HP_2011_07 by androsov.info

JULY 2011

HPIMPACT

SPECIALREPORT

BONUSREPORT

Canadian oil sands

LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

Innovative design improves efficiency

New methods solve equipment upkeep

China overtakes US in energy consumption

www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

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JULY 2011 • VOL. 90 NO. 7 www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

SPECIAL REPORT: LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

Two-phase fluid cycle efficiently recovers power from FSRUs Compact design is efficient and economical A. Goswami and H. E. Kimmel

What are the benefits from mass transfer rate-based simulation?

Improve decision-making for LNG projects via an integrated technology

Models are highly detailed and predictive R. H. Weiland and N. A. Hatcher

This approach to modeling and economics cuts through the complexity of project capital investment R. Beck

BONUS REPORT: MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

57 61 65

Run your pumps like a pro

Cover A tanker with a cargo of liquid energy moored at Chenier Energy’s Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in Cameron, Louisiana. Bechtel built one of the world’s largest facilities for turning LNG back into natural gas. Phase 1 began operations in the second quarter of 2008. The facility, now complete, is capable of regasifying 4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Photo courtesy of Bechtel.

HPIMPACT

Follow these tips to boost efficiency and avoid failures D. Kernan

Canadian oil sands in the US market

Seal off costly refinery leaks

Older refinery seeks better method to be leak-free J. Paterson

NOx control market to reach $7.6 billion

China overtakes US as top energy consumer

Rethink lubrication and steam issues on emergency equipment ‘Best available technology’ is a must for backup systems H. P. Bloch

PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS

COLUMNS

Prevent fouling in 1-butene storage vessels Investigation finds root cause for polymer formation in Horton spheres G. Sivalingam, J. D. Divey, S. M. Vakil and N. Bokde

HPIN RELIABILITY Pump switching: What is the best practice?

HPIN EUROPE Lesson learned from the US is being applied in Europe’s cap and trade system

HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIES Future of hydraulic fracturing depends on effective water treatment

HPIN ASSOCIATIONS Useful news floats downstream

HPIN CONTROL Lose the pyramid (and find process control success)

PLANT DESIGN

Use glycerol to dehydrate supercritical carbon dioxide This technology increases hydrocarbon recovery M. Swadener, J. Lundeen, K. Fisher and C. Beitler

PROCESS CONTROL

What is the outlook for advanced control engineering? New view strips away the myths over automation technology J. Wang

ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES

Case 63: Analyzing off resonance amplitudes It is important to know the amplitudes of vibration away from resonance T. Sofronas

DEPARTMENTS 7 HPIN BRIEF • 21 HPINNOVATIONS • 27 HPIN CONSTRUCTION 34 HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE 86 HPI MARKETPLACE • 89 ADVERTISER INDEX

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HPIN BRIEF BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR

BT@HydrocarbonProcessing.com

A storage tank explosion at Chevron’s Pembroke refinery in southwest Wales, UK, caused a fire, killing four contractors and seriously injuring another on June 2. The refinery itself remained fully operational following the blast, company officials said. Police representatives said the explosion occurred amid maintenance work at the refinery, and that an investigation was underway. “We will take every step possible to determine the series of events that led to this tragic incident and ensure that any lessons learned from it will be integrated into the business and shared with our industry partners,” said Greg Hanggi, the refinery’s general manager. Earlier this year, Chevron agreed to sell the 220,000-bpd Pembroke refinery as well as other marketing and logistics assets in the UK and Ireland to Valero for $1.73 billion. Valero officials said the explosion will not halt the company’s acquisition of the refinery.

Dow Water & Process Solutions has opened its Global Water Technology Development Center in Tarragona, Spain. The center is designed to accelerate the commercialization of Dow’s technologies that make possible the production of clean water, officials said. The center was funded through a $15 million Dow investment, along with grant subsidies from Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation for research programs in this area, which is in line with the Spanish government’s commitment to research and development in the field of sustainable water supplies, the company said. Dow said that initial research efforts will be directed to areas such as improving the quality of desalinated water, minimizing costs and reducing energy consumption.

LyondellBasell signed a deal to purchase approximately 200 miles of pipeline near Houston from BP. The pipelines and metering stations comprise a Houston-area olefins distribution system transporting ethylene and propylene from Channelview, Texas, to Equistar’s storage terminal at Mont Belvieu, Texas, and facilities in Deer Park, La Porte and the Bayport Industrial District in Pasadena, Texas. The purchase also includes a natural gas liquids (NGL) feedstock supply line into Channelview.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has added eight substances to its report on carcinogens, a document that identifies chemicals and biological agents that may put people at increased risk for cancer. The industrial chemical formaldehyde and a botanical known as aristolochic acids are listed as known human carcinogens. Six other substances—captafol, cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard-metal form), certain inhalable glass-wool fibers, o-nitrotoluene, riddelliine and styrene—are added as substances that are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. With these additions, the carcinogens report now includes 240 listings.

AkzoNobel has opened a €7 million fire-protection laboratory at its Felling site in the UK, part of a €10 million investment in research, development and innovation (RD&I) that will create around 40 new jobs. The lab will be operated by the company’s Marine and Protective Coatings business, which supplies fire-protection coatings used to protect steel structures such as buildings and oil and gas installations. The global market is growing rapidly due to increasingly stringent fire-protection regulations worldwide, with forecasters expecting demand to double by 2018.

The world pipe market is projected to expand 5.8% per year to 31.5 billion meters in 2015, a mild deceleration relative to the 2005–2010 period. This slowdown can be almost entirely attributed to China, the world’s largest consumer of pipe. After increasing rapidly from 2000–2010, Chinese pipe demand is expected to rise at about the average worldwide rate through 2015. Advances in North America, Eastern Europe and Western Europe are expected to accelerate through 2015, as these regions recover from the global financial crisis. HP

■ US biodiesel market The US biodiesel industry will grow to support more than 74,000 jobs throughout the economy by 2015 while creating some $4 billion in household income, more than doubling current levels, according to an economic study released by the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). The report also found that the industry will grow to generate nearly $1.6 billion in local, state and federal tax revenues in 2015. The study, conducted by Cardno ENTRIX, an international consulting firm that specializes in environment and natural resources economics, documents the difficulties the industry faced when the US Congress allowed a key tax incentive to expire in 2010. It found that the expiration of the tax credit and the accompanying 42% drop in production resulted in the loss of nearly 8,900 jobs, a drop in household income of $485 million, and a reduction in real GDP of $879 million. But the industry is seeing a sharp turnaround in 2011 with the tax credit reinstated and the supporting regulatory framework of the EPA’s 2010 Renewable Fuel Standard, which designated biodiesel as an advanced biofuel. Production jumped 69% in January and has been steadily climbing since. The study predicts the industry will support more than 31,000 jobs in 2011, generate income of nearly $1.7 billion to be circulated throughout the economy, and create more than $3 billion in GDP. Under projected expansion by 2015, that economic impact would grow even further to supporting more than 74,000 jobs, $4 billion in income, and some $7.3 billion in GDP. However, the US Congress is still skeptical of the industry’s need for continued tax credits and subsidies. In mid-June, the US Senate voted to end the ethanol blender credit and ethanol import tariff set to expire at the end of the year. On the same day, the US House voted to prevent future allocation of funds for ethanol blender pumps and storage facilities. It will be interesting see how weakening government support for this industry will affect its future growth. HP

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

19–21 July 2011

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HPIN RELIABILITY HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR HB@HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Pump switching: What is the best practice? From a recent sequence of correspondence, we discern that certain rulings were being made years ago, although the rationale used to make these rulings has not been explained. This example involves a reliability engineer in Australia. He works for a polyethylene manufacturer that formerly belonged to MNXC, a leading multinational corporation. The plant inherited operating and maintenance manuals from MNXC. The reliability engineer was aware that MNXC in its maintenance practices manual had documented “proven-best practices” for spare-pump operation. MNXC was said to have claimed that the more frequently a pump is started, the lower its mean-timebetween-repairs (MTBR). This, MNXC explained, was attributable to pump startup being the most severe or stressful transient operation to which pump seal(s) and bearings are subjected. Maintenance schedule. The Australian reader informed us

that MNXC’s maintenance practices manual advocated a fourcategory criticality ranking of all pumps and to then swap the pumps as follows: Emergency: Every 4 weeks Vital: Every 12 weeks Normal: Every 52 weeks Low: Never. The reader also noted—quite correctly—that the MNXC maintenance practices manual recommendation does not seem to follow logic. It was apparent to this reliability professional that, for its most critical equipment, MNXC applied a frequent start strategy which, as they correctly inferred, would yield the shortest MTBR. The Australian engineer summarized his correspondence by recalling that we at HP were rather familiar with MNXC’s practices and asked for our opinion on the matter. Answer. Well, the manual didn’t exist at MNXC when I opted

for early retirement in 1986. In the intervening years, I have had ample opportunity to research the issue and to observe prevailing practices in many countries. I subsequently alluded to pump “swap-over” topics in books and articles on many occasions. As to the issue raised by the reader, there are several possibilities. Some, I will admit, are alluded to with a twist of irony, but they deserve to be mentioned here: a) There is confusion with the terminology “swap” vs. “test run.” The old manual might advocate a “swap” once a year, but (elsewhere) asks the operators to test run the second pump for at least four hours every month. b) The old owner company, MNXC and the person(s) compiling the manual have overlooked the fact that letting a pump sit idle for 52 weeks and to then expect it to run flawlessly is stunningly naive and will—ultimately—cost the owner dearly. Experienced reliability professionals know well that, after a year, the bearings of the stand-still “spare” pump will have degraded due to two actions:

FIG. 1

False brinelling caused by vibration of non-running equipment

• One action is micro-vibration transmitted from adjacent running equipment; such vibratory motion causes the oil film to be wiped off. The result is metal-to-metal contact and false brinelling (Fig. 1), usually at the race near the lowermost bearing balls. • The second typical action results from corrosive damage, unless, of course, dry-sump oil mist is used for both lubrication and stand-still protection. c) Whoever made the rules is inexperienced and/or bases this advice on the premise that “one has to do something in order to justify being on the company’s payroll.” d) The owner company is planning to save money and will later sell the asset to some unsuspecting buyer. The enterprise will look good—low operating cost, high profits. Two years later, the facility will be well on its way to becoming maintenance-intensive and unprofitable. Personally, I believe what a leading producer of petrochemicals (LPC) advocated and practiced in 1986 is still correct: Swapping every four weeks will protect the bearings and will keep the stagnant liquid product in the piping and seal regions from partially vaporizing. Periodically swapping pumps will also serve as a training exercise to keep operators knowledgeable and alert. An LPC engineer told us, at a conference in 2008, that LPC is now swapping pumps every six weeks. That’s sufficiently close to our old four-week rule, and I can live with that. The “new rule” that the reader mentioned in his note makes no sense, but I’m past arguing. The wheel is being reinvented even as we speak. Interestingly, pump MTBFs at some plants have declined since 2002. The “new rule” undoubtedly contributes to the MTBF decline. In any event, the important answer and technical explanation is found in b), above. You can disregard the rest. HP The author is Hydrocarbon Processing’s Reliability/Equipment Editor. As the author of 18 textbooks and over 490 papers or articles, he advises process plants worldwide on reliability improvement and maintenance cost-reduction opportunities. His latest text, Pump Wisdom: Problem Solving for Operators and Specialists, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2011, sheds additional light on the matter. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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HPIN EUROPE TIM LLOYD WRIGHT, EUROPEAN EDITOR tim.wright@gulfpub.com

Lesson learned from the US is being applied in Europe’s cap and trade system The economic pressures that have progressively ring-fenced oil products for the transportation sector over the last 40 years are about to get a significant boost from Europe’s new worldspanning carbon-trading system. The extraordinary, energy-dense liquids that the oil industry mines and refines are going to find their way to applications in which there really is no alternative. That’s now particularly so for the global long-haul aviation industry, a concentration of large-volume refining industry end-users, which joins the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) on Jan. 1, 2012. US example. This cap and trade, a “smart” way to incentivize

cheap and rapid environmental improvement taught to Europe by US officials following its successful deployment in the Acid Rain Program. With the Chicago Board of Trade’s sulfur oxide (SOx ) market as a precedent, the US persuaded its international partners to adopt trading as the main instrument of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Of course, Congress ultimately rejected that protocol. Emissions trading is going to force a further premium onto liquid fuels and, aside from its intended environmental impact. It’s going to balance any growth in fossil fuels use, with equivalent amounts of alternatives. Tough market. But as oil products are substituted where they can be, the oil market is going to be a harder place. A certain elasticity will be gone once the low-hanging fruit are plucked. That’s to say, it will be more difficult once the easy ways to respond to high oil prices by doing the obvious things differently or more efficiently, are used. For this latter observation, I should credit Amrita Sen, the Barclays Capital economist, who said in a recent presentation in Singapore that I attended, that the oil shock of 2011 (the run-up in prices associated with political dissent in North Africa and the Middle East) has been more pronounced because of this. Pricing effects. Since the 1970s, Amrita said, high oil prices

have seen oil liquids migrate from power and industry, where there are alternatives such as gas, nuclear and renewables, to the transportation fuels sector. The oil-fired power station that you could once switch off when prices got high has long since been mothballed or demolished. Against a backdrop of high oil prices, in which Goldman Sachs is currently calling for $140/bbl of oil by December 2012, the first major transport user of middle distillates are joining the emissions cap and trade system. Subject to a small threshold and some exceptions (military and diplomatic), all flights bound for, or within, the European Union (EU), including corporate flights, are covered by the system. Consider a trans-Atlantic flight. As a pilot starts the auxiliary that will get the Boeing 747’s turbines spinning, and starts the

taxi-out from the Washington Dulles airport, for every pound of jet fuel the aircraft burns, the airline will now be required to surrender 3.15 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission credits. When this plane lands in Europe, a trans-Atlantic jet may have burned some 16,600 US gallons of jet fuel. At 60°F, that’s about 50 metric tons. For the sake of argument, approximately $50,000 in revenue is disposed of. From Jan. 1, 2012, the airline will need to submit 157.5 EU allowances for that flight, and if it complied with its ETS reporting deadline of March 31, the airline will be getting some 70% or so of those permits for free. The permits (credits) are presently valued at about €18, or $25, and each one covers a ton of CO2 emissions. To get that aircraft and its 300 weary passengers to Amsterdam, at current prices, will cost an additional $1,200. That doesn’t sound like much, but using the $25/one-tonallowance carbon price above, and assuming that an airline receives 70% of its emissions permits free from the scheme, an airline with a fuel burn of one million tons on such flights would be paying $23.6 million/yr for carbon allowances. Globally, airlines will not reduce their emissions. They will continue to grow them! And from the start, airline carriers will receive much of their needs for free; the industry will still be short by some 50–90 million tons, which is worth $1.25 billion–$2.25 billion. As this market tightens, the reward to other companies with this scheme, such as generators, for avoiding emitting a ton of emissions will gradually grow. Effectively, airline passengers will be paying power companies to abandon fossil fuels and to build wind turbines along the Atlantic and North Sea coasts of Europe. As the marine sector enters the scheme, it will discover that this business has incentives to reduce speeds, dramatically cutting fuel use, and to pay more in wages to its crews instead. And when road transport fuels join, we’ll see fleets fuel-switching and profitably selling unused allowances to the airlines as well. There really are few industries where it’s as challenging to change out fossil fuels as aviation. But in the New Year, a new value will be placed on using our precious resource of distillates, and a new migration will see them concentrated in applications of last resort. HP

The author is HP’s European Editor and is also a specialist in European distillate markets. He has been active as a reporter and conference chair in the European downstream industry since 1997, before which he was a feature writer and reporter for the UK broadsheet press and BBC radio. Mr. Wright lives in Sweden and is the founder of a local climate and sustainability initiative. The author is a co-author of a recent white paper on carbon and fuel management; it can be downloaded from http://cleanjet.opisnet.com. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIES PAUL MILLER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR PMiller@Arcweb.com

Future of hydraulic fracturing depends on effective water treatment The benefits of using hydraulic fracturing (HF) to stimulate gas and oil flow from both new and existing wells are obvious. However, the downside is that this technique consumes huge quantities (along the lines of millions of gallons per well) of often regionally scarce water. Opponents to HF also claim this process can contaminate drinking water supplies. The US Environmental Protection Agency recently initiated a new, science-based study to determine if the (HF) practice does indeed pose a risk to human health or the environment. Meeting the challenge. To help address some of the waterrelated issues, several leading water-technologies companies have introduced mobile water treatment solutions. These mobile units are designed to treat and to recycle both HF flowback and brine water produced during drilling, HF and other industrial operations. Such efforts reduce the strain on freshwater supplies. Onsite water treatment also lowers the need to transport HF flowback and produced water offsite for safe disposal. Water technology companies are also building permanent treatment facilities designed to lower the percentage of total dissolved solids from the HF flowback produced water before processing at municipal wastewater treatment facilities that often are not equipped to handle this effluent type. R&D efforts. In addition, several universities, including Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon University and West Virginia University have initiated research projects (often involving substantial funding from the US Department of Energy) intended to develop new, more effective technologies for treating effluents from oil and gas drilling and HF operations. HF consume huge quantities of water. With HF, water

under high pressure forms fractures in the rock, which are propped open by sand or other materials thus providing pathways for gas (and oil) to move to the well. Petroleum engineers refer to this fracturing process as “stimulation.” A variety of different chemicals, typically representing less than 0.5% of the total volume, are also used to facilitate this process. The tremendous volumes of water required (typically two to five million gallons per well), of which 25% to 100% may be returned to the surface as flowback water, must be recovered and disposed of responsibly (or recycled for further industrial usage) before gas production can commence. For western US states, in particular, freshwater supplies are already extremely scarce; thus, HF can further strain existing water resources. Water used for drilling and fracking active wells in the Barnett Shale area can equal the typical water usage for 185,000 households (or more). According to a US Geological Survey (USGS) fact sheet, Texas state and county agencies now closely monitor volumes of water used during drilling, and a consortium of Barnett Shale drilling

companies have developed best-management practices for water conservation. The goal is to keep the pace of drilling and production activities within the bounds of sustainable water usage. Producers in Marcellus Shale gas production areas have had similar discussions. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Water treatment solutions enable water reuse to reduce freshwater and transportation requirements. Produced water from HF operations is typically disposed of in three ways: 1. Transported offsite for disposal in permitted underground wells 2. Transported offsite for treatment before disposal to surface waters 3. Treated onsite for reuse in HF or drilling operations The unique nature of the flowback water produced from HF operations located in different geographic regions (and different chemicals used) requires different water-treatment solutions. For example, water treatment operations in the Marcellus Shale region in the eastern US must be able to deal with the extremely highbrine content of the HF flowback water. Several companies, including both Siemens Water Technologies and GE Power & Water, have introduced mobile treatment units that can treat produced water onsite for reuse via a variety of different technologies. The onsite approach both reduces the strain on local water resources and minimizes the cost, wear on roads and greenhouse-gas emissions associated with hauling large quantities of flowback and produced water to distant disposal wells or offsite treatment facilities in tank trucks. The Siemens solution utilizes flotation/filtration technology, while the GE solution utilizes evaporation methodology. As with most technology approaches, each has its pros and cons. Clearly, the limited availability of water appropriate for HF operations constrains the oil and gas industry’s ability to produce shale gas and other unconventional energy sources. Furthermore, the present high cost of treating and/or transporting and disposing of both produced water and HF flowback water represents a considerable cost. The current concerted effort by leading water industry suppliers, government and academia to develop, commercialize and deploy new mobile and fixed technologies for cost-effectively treating produced water and HF flowback water will provide significant benefit to the oil and gas industry and the general public. ARC Advisory Group is preparing a series of reports on industrial water management for its Advisory Service clients. These reports will include approaches and success stories. HP Paul Miller is a senior editor/analyst at ARC Advisory Group and has 25 years of experience in industrial automation industry. He has published numerous articles in industry trade publications. Mr. Miller follows both the terminal automation and water/wastewater sectors for ARC. For more information, readers can contact the author at pmiller@arcweb.com. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 13

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HPIN ASSOCIATIONS BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR

BT@HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Useful news floats downstream The mega-gathering known as the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) is primarily focused upstream and offshore, but there are nuggets of information that seep out from its yearly proceedings that have relevance to the downstream sector. During the four day conference that took place in early May in Houston, Texas, Hydrocarbon Processing’s sister publication World Oil produced the official show daily newspaper for the show. I sifted through the vast amounts of data that World Oil’s staff culled to bring some information that will be of interest to refiners, gas processors, chemical creators and the like. Israel’s gas boom. To make full use

of the nearly 26 Tcf of natural gas recently discovered off its western coast, Israel plans to double its electrical production in gas over the next 10 years, increase industry gas use and possibly export the surplus, according to Shaul Zemach, Israel’s director general of the Ministry of National Infrastructures. During a luncheon, Mr. Zemach said that the country has undertaken a major fuel-switching initiative from coal to natural gas in the two years since the discovery of the 8-Tcf Tamar field in the Mediterranean Sea. This has resulted in about 12,000 MW of currently installed electrical capacity (40% of the country’s total) coming from gas. Tamar was followed by the 1-Tcf Dalit field and the 16-Tcf Leviathan field (the biggest deepwater discovery globally in the last 10 years). Mr. Zemach said that energy independence is a major driver for development of the fields, especially given political uncertainty in Egypt, Israel’s main gas supplier. “Self-reliance is something one must appreciate in the Middle East, especially given Israel’s unique geopolitical circumstances,” he said.

all for meeting global demand, said Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Co., during a panel discussion. “Hydrocarbons are here to stay for years to come,” he said. “Looking for alternatives is the right thing to do, but thinking it will replace oil and gas is unrealistic. We can never turn our backs on hydrocarbons.” The panelists of the session were tasked with pondering the biggest surprise next on the world energy stage. According to Stephen Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co., the biggest surprise is going to be that the world is in no danger of running out of exploitable resources. “Oil, gas and coal will account for upwards of 80% of all future requirements, and the good news is we have the resources to meet the future demand. In fact, the growth of the global resource base is the biggest surprise to me,” he said. “There is no physical shortage of oil,” said Zuhair Hussain, Saudi Aramco vice president of drilling and workover. “The peak-oil purists have been discredited. We have enormous potential for increasing production from existing fields and developing unexplored resources, which could continue to increase production of many decades to come.” As a case-in-point, he said that OPEC and Saudi Arabia, in particular, have no difficulty maintaining a 1.5 million to 2 million bbl/d spare capacity to meet any

supply disruptions now and in the future. “Renewables are an important part of the mix, but only a part,” he said. FPSO vessel classification. It has become essential to develop rules and classifications for the various components and technologies aboard LNG floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels. The rules and classifications aim to clarify the set of standards by which technologies are independently verified for the increasing number of LNG offtakers, FPSO operators and designers, marine engineers, energy companies and systems providers and financiers. France’s Bureau Veritas, which issued new classification rules in January, explained the procedure for classifying technologies and performing functional analyses of systems during a technical session. FPSOs often cross international waters into regions with varying regulations. Given this reality, Bureau Veritas has been conducting a series of analyses, in order to develop an LNG FPSO qualification program based on risk qualification, functionality, failure and criticality elements. The company aims to share the classification and verification standards as it examines more LNG FPSOs, eventually developing a global benchmarking program that can be used in the facilitation of new LNG FPSO projects. HP With reporting from David Michael Cohen, Nell Lukasovich and Jim Redden.

A new energy future. Advancing

research on alternative energy sources is certainly a prudent strategy going forward, but it should not be viewed as the cure-

A panel pondered the world’s energy future during OTC.

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 15

Our contribution to clean energy is cleaning energy. Natural gas is one of the most important energy sources. Presently, one quarter of the world’s energy demand is supplied by natural gas which is predominantly transported via pipeline. However, rising demand combined with waning reserves calls for the exploration of new natural gas sources. Given in most instances the remote location of new sources, transport is frequently only possible by ship. As a consequence, LNG (liquefied natural gas) is becoming an increasingly important transport option. Although LNG is a very clean energy source, liquefaction requires refrigeration to a temperature of –160° C before transport is possible. In this condition, the gas has only 1/600 of its original volume and can be transported more economically. To ensure the cleanest possible energy source the natural gas can be purified using Lurgi’s Omnisulf ® process prior to liquefaction. This process involves a combination of various technologies designed to meet even the most stringent purity requirements. Contact us and we will be pleased to deliver a solution tailored to your specific needs.

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HPIMPACT BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR

BT@HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Canadian oil sands in the US market A recent report from IHS CERA analyzed the role of Canadian oil sands in the US market. Currently, the US is practically the only market for Canadian crude oil. Although Canadian oil is exported to many US regions, the majority of exports, including oil sands, go to the US Midwest. With the two recent pipeline expansions from western Canada to the US Midwest commissioned in 2010 (Enbridge’s Alberta Clipper at 450,000 bpd and TransCanada’s Keystone at 590,000 bpd), new oil sands supply will be consumed in this region (Fig. 1). Crude supply. Crude oil supply in the US Midwest is nearing a saturation point. IHS CERA projects that the bulk of oil sands export growth to the US Midwest will be a product called dilbit (diluted bitumen), a heavy crude oil. To prepare for increasing heavy crude supplies, a number of Midwest refiners are adding sophisticated coking upgrading units to their refineries, enabling them to accept growing dilbit volumes. The combination of new pipeline capacity and additional refining capacity geared to accept dilbit means that, in the near term, the Midwest market can absorb additional oil sands production. However, considering the potential for oil sands production to double in the next decade, by 2015 oil sands dilbit exports will likely exceed the Midwest refiners’ ability to process the heavy crude. It’s possible that some Midwest refiners could further upgrade their refineries, increasing the market for dilbit. But growing Canadian supplies to the US Midwest have coincided with a renaissance in light crude oil production in the region, led by the Bakken tight oil play, mainly in North Dakota but also extending into Montana. Total production from the formation has grown from less than 10,000 bd in 2003 to an estimated 400,000 bd in 2011, making North Dakota the fourth-largest oil-producing state in the US. IHS CERA estimates that production from the play could reach at least 800,000 bd by 2016–2018. Production elsewhere in the Midwest is also rising: output in Oklahoma and Kansas has increased by about

10% since 2007. Consequently, with ample and growing light domestic crude supplies in the region, it is unclear whether refiners would make costly upgrades to process more heavy crude supply from Canada. Pricing. A sign of the need to expand pipeline capacity out of the Midwest, and of the oversupply of light crude in the region, is a lower price for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil relative to other major crude oils, including those traded on the US Gulf Coast and elsewhere in

the world. WTI, priced at Cushing, Oklahoma, is the oil price that appears in the daily news. Historically, WTI has been priced at a premium to other crude oils. The US Midwest was short of crude oil, and a higher price was needed to attract supply to refineries in the region and to reflect the high quality of WTI. Consequently, pipeline infrastructure was built to transport oil to the Midwest, but not from the Midwest. Cushing pipeline connections do not flow south to the US Gulf.

From Western Canada Enbridge system 2.4

Bakken market link 0.1

To Sarnia and other points east

Keystone 0.5*

Keystone XL market link 0.7 Platte 0.2

Chicago, IL

To other Midwest reﬁneries

Keystone extension to Cushing 0.2*

Spearhead 0.2

Cushing market link 0.15

Patoka, IL

Cushing, OK

Pegasus 0.1

Houston, TX

Existing pipeline Proposed pipeline Pipeline capacity, MMbd Source: IHS CERA, company information Note: Distances not drawn to scale. Pipeline capacities are rounded. *Keystone Cushing extension will be taken over by the Keystone XL, when XL is operational. The Keystone pipeline will run at 0.3 MMbd (down from the current 0.5 MMbd) when this occurs. FIG. 1

Current and proposed crude flow from Western Canada to the US Midwest and Gulf Coast. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 17

HPIMPACT In a break from historical trends, there were times from 2006 to 2010 when WTI was priced several dollars below Light Louisiana Sweet (a crude oil produced in the US Gulf Coast) and Brent crude oil (a global price benchmark produced in the UK sector of the North Sea). But, in recent months, the WTI discount has ballooned to as much as $18 per barrel as landlocked supply growth overwhelmed the Midwest crude oil market. WTI will remain vulner-

able to significant discounts to other crude oils until more export capacity is developed to transport crude out of the Midwest to the US Gulf Coast. The Keystone XL project could provide some relief for the oversupply of light crudes in the US Midwest. First, some Canadian light synthetic crude oil (SCO) could bypass oversupplied light crude markets in the Midwest and go directly to the US Gulf Coast.

Second, the project could transport some US domestic production from both Cushing and the Bakken to the US Gulf Coast. What if increased oil sands access to the US market is derailed? Apart from the loss to consumers of a more dynamic pipeline network, Canadian oil sands producers would likely turn to Asia as a new export market, and US Gulf Coast refiners would continue to draw on current suppliers. However, some current suppliers, such as Mexico and Venezuela, are struggling to maintain production, and other suppliers are needed.

NOx control market to reach $7.6 billion

Improved Wellpad Automation, Shipped Quickly VEGA Americas’ VEGAFLEX guided wave and VEGAPULS through-air radar sensors are ideal for measuring the total level and/or interface in storage tanks. When used in conjunction with a VEGASWING vibration switch for overﬁll protection, a truly redundant system is developed.

The market for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems and replacement catalyst will reach a record $7.6 billion this year (Fig. 2). This is according to the latest forecast published by the McIlvaine Co. Sales of systems are projected at $6.1 billion. This includes the ammonia-injection system, the catalyst, housing and all the ductwork and other components contracted with SCR system suppliers. McIlvaine says sales of catalyst are rising steadily. They will exceed $1.5 billion in 2011 mainly due to the replacement needs. The largest application is coal-fired boilers where catalyst life is less than five years. Gas turbines are another large application. Recently there has been a big market in the US for SCR systems for peaking turbines. This has created a need for high-temperature catalyst. Several catalyst suppliers have developed a product to meet this need. However, many purchasers are avoiding the risk by using conventional catalyst and bleeding in air to reduce temperatures. 2011 worldwide SCR systems and catalyst revenue, million/$

VEGA measurement instruments supply the following beneﬁts: Catalyst, $1,509.50

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SCR systems, $6,104.80

Will Bailey National Sales Manager w.bailey@vega.com FIG. 2 www.vega-americas.com

Select 152 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS 18

The market for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems and replacement catalyst will reach a record $7.6 billion this year.

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HPIMPACT China overtakes US as top energy consumer China became the world’s largest energy consumer in 2010, overtaking the US during a year that saw the rebound in the global economy drive consumption higher and at a rate not seen since the aftermath of the 1973 oil price shocks. Demand for all forms of energy grew strongly in 2010 and increases in fossil

fuel consumption suggest that global carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions from energy use rose at their fastest rate since 1969. The growth in energy consumption was broad-based, with both mature Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies and non-OECD countries growing at aboveaverage rates. The figures come from the publication of the 60th annual BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

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“There were both structural and cyclical factors at work,” said Bob Dudley, BP chief executive. “The cyclical factor is reflected in the fact that industrial production rebounded very sharply as the world recovered from the global downturn. Structurally, the increase reflects the continuing rapid economic growth in the developing world. I was in China a couple of weeks ago and I came away with a very clear sense of how rigorously China is thinking about these issues. Growth is by no means the only game in town. They want to maintain social cohesion and they want to make their growth more sustainable. In sum, they are worried about energy security and climate change—just as we are.” Overview. The strong rebound of global energy consumption in 2010 followed the recent global recession. Consumption growth reached 5.6%, the highest rate since 1973. It increased strongly for all forms of energy and in all regions. Total consumption of energy in 2010 easily surpassed the pre-recession peak reached in 2008. “Economic growth was led by the nonOECD economies which had suffered least during the crisis. By year-end, economic activity for the world as a whole exceeded pre-crisis levels driven by the so-called developing world,” said Christof Rühl, BP’s group chief economist. Globally, energy consumption grew more rapidly than the economy, meaning that the energy intensity of economic activity increased for a second consecutive year. The data imply that global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel consumption will also have grown strongly last year. Demand in OECD countries grew by 3.5%, the strongest growth rate since 1984, although the level of OECD consumption remains roughly in line with that seen 10 years ago. Non-OECD consumption grew by 7.5% and was 63% above the 2000 level. Consumption growth accelerated in 2010 for all regions, and growth was above average in all regions. Chinese energy consumption grew by 11.2%, and China surpassed the US as the world’s largest energy consumer. Oil remains the world’s leading fuel, at 33.6% of global energy consumption, but it continued to lose market share for the 11th consecutive year. Global oil consumption grew by 2.7 million bpd, or 3.1%, the strongest growth since 2004. HP Expanded versions of these items can be found online at HydrocarbonProcessing.com.

HPINNOVATIONS SELECTED BY HYDROCARBON PROCESSING EDITORS Editorial@HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Kink-resistant hose provides longer service life

New CO2 management system for algae fuel production

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics (SGPPL) has introduced a high-performance solution for transferring bulk corrosive chemicals. A superior flexible and kink-resistant hose, the Chemfluor Convoflex WCSR multipurpose chemical transfer hose is designed to solve the issue in bulk chemical transfer process where corrosive chemicals such as acids may damage the stainless-steel braid commonly used as a cover on transfer hoses. Saint-Gobain’s solution provides a longer service life while enhancing plant and worker safety. The Chemfluor Convoflex WCSR is the newest addition to Saint-Gobain’s growing portfolio of versatile critical connection solutions for chemical applications. These solutions are engineered to maintain safety during chemical processes, while reducing total systems cost. From solvents to bulk chemical transfer, the Chemfluor Convoflex WCSR hose can withstand highly aggressive chemicals during chemical processing. Its highly engineered low profile helical convoluted inner core design provides superior flexibility while maintaining plant operation productivity by preventing kinking, a common cause of downtime for such demanding applications. The Chemfluor Convoflex WCSR hose is constructed with a chemically resistant, high-purity Chemfluor PTFE inner-core, and is reinforced with 304 high tensile strength stainless steel braids and an acidresistant ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) outer-cover. Extremely hard-wearing and durable, the vulcanized EPDM outer-cover protects the integrity of the hose when acid or other corrosive chemicals are accidentally exposed to the outer surface. “We are pleased to introduce this new product to our critical connection solutions portfolio, which is aimed at connecting our customers’ processes, operations and products to what matters to them most: safety, performance and brand assurance,” stated Lily Lei, global market leader for chemicals in the Process Systems division of SaintGobain Performance Plastics.

The Linde Group and Sapphire Energy, Inc., a world leader in algae-based crude oil, announced that they have entered into a multi-year agreement to co-develop a low-cost system to deliver carbon dioxide (CO2 ) to commercial-scale, open-pond, algae-to-fuel cultivation systems. Linde, the leading merchant CO2 supplier in the US, will partner with Sapphire Energy, to reduce the costs associated with the delivery of anthropogenic CO 2 for commercial-scale open-pond algae cultivation. In addition, Linde will supply all of the CO2 to Sapphire`s commercial demonstration facility in Columbus, New Mexico. “Producing fuel by algae using CO 2 from large emitters like power stations and chemical plants is a very promising way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Dr. Aldo Belloni, member of the executive board of Linde AG. “We are delighted to be a key partner in Sapphire’s algae-to-biofuel activities. This is one of the many examples for innovative ‘clean energy’ projects that Linde is involved in.” “The need for new sources of fuel, as dependency on oil becomes more and more problematic, is clear. To produce algal oil, or ‘green crude,’ at the scale to meet growing demand, we need great partners who can supply sufficient and low-cost access to CO 2,” said Cynthia (C. J.) Warner, president, Sapphire Energy. “Linde has unequalled knowledge in how to efficiently manage the distribution process. Through this collaboration, we are closer to delivering a domestically produced, cost efficient source of algae-based green crude.” Sapphire Energy has developed proprietary technology along the entire algae-toenergy value chain from biology, cultivation, harvest and extraction, to refining, resulting in a highly scalable process to produce a renewable and low carbon substitute for fossil-based crude oil. Sapphire’s green crude produces drop-in fuels—jet, diesel and gasoline—that are completely compatible with existing infrastructure and engines. Algae are grown in salty, nonpotable water, using lands not suitable for agriculture, and require only sunlight and CO2 to grow, all sustainable features that

Select 1 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

petroleum and most other biofuel options cannot match. Sapphire’s technology represents an approximate 70% reduction in life-cycle carbon emissions compared to petroleum-based equivalents. A single commercial algae-fuel production facility is estimated to require approximately 10,000 metric tons of CO2 per day, which is comparable to approximately 30% of the current merchant market for CO2 in the US. The Linde Group has a wealth of experience in the cost-efficient supply of CO2 for climate- and eco-friendly CO2 recycling applications. The Organic CO2 for Assimilation by Plants (OCAP) project in The Netherlands is a case in point. Here, Linde supplies, via an 85-km pipeline, around 550 greenhouses with CO2, which is a byproduct from a nearby refinery. Linde also develops, designs, plans and constructs pilot and commercial facilities for capturing CO2 from various sources, such as power plants, chemical plants, natural gas processing, biofuel and other plants. Select 2 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Software helps reliably analyze unknown samples X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) has established itself as a fast and simple analytical procedure. But the method can only fully take advantage of its strengths when the matrix of the sample is known. If this is not the case, then the TurboQuant software for automatic matrix-effect correction, developed by SPECTRO Analytical Instruments, can help. A new video at www.spectro.com demonstrates the power of the software solution. As HP editors, we hear about new products, patents, software, processes, services, etc., that are true industry innovations—a cut above the typical product offerings. This section enables us to highlight these significant developments. For more information from these companies, please go to our website at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/rs and select the reader service number.

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 21

HPINNOVATIONS A great advantage to XRF screenings is the possibility of measuring the samples with minimal sample preparation. Unfortunately, a number of sample-dependent matrix effects influences the accuracy of the analytical results. “The measurement results are only truly reliable if the instrument recognizes the matrix of the sample and can take it into account during the analysis,” explains Dirk Wissmann, product manager for XRF at SPECTRO.

“Whether a liquid is oily or aqueous, whoever tries to analyze without any previous knowledge of the sample must expect large deviations.” The TurboQuant software developed by SPECTRO makes exact knowledge of the composition of the matrix unnecessary. The software recognizes the matrix-specific backscatter from the sample and automatically determines the sample matrix. “TurboQuant only needs to know the physical

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condition—solid, powder or liquid—of the sample, to achieve acceptable accuracy for even completely unknown samples,” Wissmann reports. For environment analysis, for example, the software is used in the SPECTRO XEPOS XRF flagship for the examination of soil samples, electronics scrap or alternative fuels. Select 3 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Recent developments of rare-earth-free FCC catalysts Due to China’s recent export quota restrictions of rare-earth metals, Grace Davison has developed several rare-earthfree fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalysts. Grace has provided innovation that includes the addition of rare earth metals to stabilize the zeolite Y component of the FCC catalyst—revolutionary for catalytic cracking. In the 1990s, Grace developed Z-21, a rare-earth-free stabilized zeolite Y. Based on this technology, the NEXUS catalyst family was commercialized as a rare-earth-free catalyst family for lowmetal feed applications. Grace has further developed the rareearth-free catalysts by combining the rareearth-free Z-21 zeolite with new matrices, resulting in the new families of REsolution catalysts and REBEL catalysts. Rare-earthfree REsolution catalysts are intended for low-metal feed applications and represent further improvements on NEXUS catalyst performance. Within each family of REsolution catalysts, the ability to independently adjust the activity and selectivities of zeolite and the matrix, as well as the ratio of zeolite/ matrix activity allow for a tremendous degree of formulation flexibility. For low-metal applications, REsolution will match/improve the performance of standard rare-earth-based catalysts. REsolution provides higher conversion and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) olefins yield, as well as similar gasoline yield, bottoms upgrading and coke. Further research and development work has provided a new rare-earth-free high-matrix catalyst system for FCC applications: the REBEL catalyst. It’s formulated with Z-21 and demonstrates similar activity and selectivity as Midas 100 catalyst. Rare-earth-free Z-22 zeolite.

Recently, Grace achieved a breakthrough with a proprietary stabilization process and a unique treatment step to boost acidity,

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HPINNOVATIONS resulting in Z-22, a rare-earth-free zeolite. Relative to REUSY, Z-22 provides equivalent activity, higher LPG olefins and gasoline octane at constant bottoms and coke make. Several new catalyst families utilizing Z-22 have been introduced for hydrotreated or low to moderate feedmetal applications. The REactoR catalyst utilizes the Z-22 zeolite, but also incorporates the processing technologies used in NADIUS catalyst (a rare-earth-based

catalyst for low-metal feed applications). Pilot plant testing demonstrates that both catalysts show similar selectivities in terms of dry gas, coke and bottoms upgrading, while REactoR catalyst provides higher yields of LPG olefins at the expense of some gasoline yield. REplaceR catalyst is another new rareearth-free catalyst family that is based on the Z-22 zeolite. This catalyst incorporates the processing technologies used in NaceR

catalyst—another rare-earth-based catalyst for low-metal feed applications. Pilot plant testing compared REplaceR with NaceR and showed that REplaceR provides similarly high activity, slightly higher LPG olefin yields and similar bottoms upgrading and coke yield. The plant results demonstrate that low-metal applications REactoR and REplaceR catalysts are suitable rare-earth-free alternatives to established rare-earth-based catalysts. A rare-earth-free catalyst for resid feed applications. Due to addi-

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tional demands placed on zeolite stability, developing the rare-earth-free catalyst for the resid feed sector was more challenging than for the low-metal feed sector. Rare-earth metals remain the most effective vanadium trap. However, processing technology involving metals resistance functionality has now been successfully applied to catalyst systems containing the Z-21 and Z-22 zeolites, resulting in the REduceR catalyst family. REduceR catalyst can be used as a blending component with a rare-earth-based resid catalyst, thus reducing the overall rare-earth requirement. Pilot-plant testing compared a rare-earth-based NEKTOR resid catalyst and the same catalyst containing 30% of REduceR catalyst and showed that these catalysts were very comparable. REduceR catalyst, a rare-earth-free resid catalyst can be blended with a rare-earth-based resid catalyst to provide similar performance in bottoms upgrading and coke yield. In summary, Grace’s newly developed catalysts include: • REsolution catalyst—Contains rareearth-free Z-21 zeolite in combination with a new matrix. • REactoR catalyst—Contains the newly developed rare-earth-free Z-22 zeolite with the application of the processing technologies used in NADIUS catalyst. • REplaceR catalyst—Contains the newly developed rare-earth-free Z-22 zeolite with the application of the processing technologies used in NaceR. • REduceR catalyst—A rare-earth-free resid catalyst that can be blended at a 30% level into rare-earth-based resid catalysts without significant performance deterioration in resid applications. • REBEL catalyst—A high-matrix catalyst formulated with Z-21; yields similar performance as Midas 100 catalyst after deactivation with metals. Select 4 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Select 97 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

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#SFBUIF FBTZ XJUI UIF 'JTIFS '06/%"5*0/ GJFMECVT MFWFM DPOUSPMMFS

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5IF &NFSTPO MPHP JT B USBEFNBSL BOE TFSWJDF NBSL PG &NFSTPO &MFDUSJD $P 'JTIFS $POUSPMT *OUFSOBUJPOBM --$ % 9 .9 )

Select 69 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

HPIN CONSTRUCTION HELEN MECHE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR HM@HydrocarbonProcessing.com

North America CB&I has been awarded an additional project, valued at approximately $50 million, for storage tanks at an oil-sands project near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. CB&I’s scope of work includes the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of 12 cone-roof tanks at the oil -sands project. CB&I’s contract is scheduled for completion in 2013. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been selected by both BP and Davy Process Technology Ltd. (a subsidiary of Johnson Matthey Plc), to help seek deployment opportunities for the proven BP/Davy Fischer Tropsch process, on a nonexclusive basis. Under the agreement, Jacobs is providing engineering resources to potential licensees. The BP/Davy Fischer Tropsch process transforms syngas into liquid hydrocarbons, and is a low-technology-risk process for producing diesel, jet fuel (JP8) and naphtha from natural gas, bio-mass or coalderived syngas. BP and Davy have successfully demonstrated the fixed-bed technology on a semicommercial scale in Nikiski, Alaska, with full-scale fixed-bed reaction tubes where the nominal 300-bpd complex met or exceeded all of its performance targets. This process is now available for license to third parties, and BP’s and Davy’s continuing development is focused on retrofit enhancements. The Shaw Group Inc. has renewed a contract with Albemarle Corp. to provide maintenance, engineering, construction, reliability, operations and other labor services at Albemarle’s specialty chemicals manufacturing locations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas. Shaw will also provide services to Albemarle’s Michigan plant starting in May 2011. KBR’s subsidiary Roberts & Schaefer (R&S) has been selected to construct a petroleum coker (pet coke) material-handling system for Motiva Enterprises LLC’s Port Arthur refinery expansion project in Port Arthur, Texas. The contract is part of a larger effort by Motiva to expand the Port

Arthur refinery. The expansion is expected to increase current capacity to 600,000 bpd in 2012, reportedly making it the largest refinery in the US and one of the top 10 in the world. R&S will install, start up and test the pet coke system, as well as provide onsite construction management and technical support for commissioning/testing. The $9.1-million contract award follows R&S’s execution of the project’s engineering and procurement phase.

South America CB&I has been awarded a storage tank project, valued in excess of $40 million, by Bahamas Oil Refining Co., Intl., Ltd. CB&I’s scope of work includes the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of 14 oil storage tanks, with a total capacity of approximately 3.5 million bbl, in Freeport, Grand Bahamas. CB&I’s contract is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2012. Bahamas Oil Refining Co. is owned by Buckeye Partners, L.P.

Europe Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has received a contract from Goteborg Energi AB for the GoBiGas project, a 20-MW biomass gasification and methanation project in Goteborg, Sweden. Officials estimate the contract value at $19 million. Jacobs is executing the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services from its offices in Leiden, The Netherlands. Under contract terms, Jacobs is providing the local construction management services for and on behalf of GoBiGas for the new demonstration plant. The plant will produce biomethane from biomass, which is to be distributed in the existing Goteborg gas grid. The gasification technology is provided by Metso Power in cooperation with Repotec, and Haldor Topsøe is providing the methanation technology. The plant is planned to come online in 2013. BASF will build what is said to be the world’s largest single-train toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant in Europe. The plant

will have a capacity of 300,000 metric tpy and will be fully integrated with precursor production. It will be located at one of the company’s integrated Verbund sites in Antwerp, Belgium, or Ludwigshafen, Germany, and will start production in 2014. Engineering is underway and the final site selection will be announced shortly. TDI is a key component used for polyurethane foams. Eni has started work on the first industrial application of the Eni Slurry Technology (EST) at its refining plant of Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi, near Pavia, Italy. EST is Eni’s proprietary technology for converting heavy-oil residues into fine products, gasoline and gasoil. The EST technology, funded by Eni with over €1.1 billion, is said to represent

Correction In the 2011 June issue, page 26, HP editors incorrectly identified the China Blue Chemical methanol facility at Dongfang as the world’s largest operating coal-based methanol facility, and the methanol will be used for olefin production. Correction: The plant is only 2,500 metric tpd and will produce AA grade methanol to be used for the domestic Chinese market and be available for export.

Trend analysis forecasting Hydrocarbon Processing maintains an extensive database of historical HPI project information. The Boxscore Database is a 35-year compilation of projects by type, operating company, licensor, engineering/constructor, location, etc. Many companies use the historical data for trending or sales forecasting. The historical information is available in comma-delimited or Excel® and can be custom sorted to suit your needs. The cost depends on the size and complexity of the sort requested. You can focus on a narrow request, such as the history of a particular type of project, or you can obtain the entire 35-year Boxscore database or portions thereof. Simply send a clear description of the data needed and receive a prompt cost quotation. Contact: Drew Combs P.O. Box 2608, Houston, Texas, 77252-2608 713-520-4409 • Drew.Combs@GulfPub.com HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 27

HPIN CONSTRUCTION Total completes deep conversion project in Texas Total has completed a three-year, $2.2 billion expansion of its refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, with all new units successfully started and onstream (Fig. 1). The deep conversion project included a 50,000-bpd coker, 55,000-bpd vacuum distillation unit (VDU-2) and 64,000-bpd distillate hydrotreater (DHT3) (Fig. 2). The units expand the company’s ability to process heavy and sour crude oil and produce cleaner transportation fuels, such as ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), officials said. What it means. “Having the ability to access what the market gives you on raw materials is very important,” said Darrell Jacob, refinery manager for Total in Port Arthur. “This project gave us the access to a much wider range of crudes. “As far as ultra-low-sulfur diesel, that’s what the transportation fuels market demands,” he added. The expansion will allow the refinery to produce 3 million tons more of ULSD for automotive use, Jacob noted (Fig. 3).

Milestone for Total. Michel Benezit, an executive vice president for France-based Total and president of refining and marketing, called it an important milestone for Total’s downstream operations, also noting that the new production was more environmentally-friendly. “It allows us to adjust to a changing crude market and gives us more flexibility in supply,” said Benezit. “Refineries have to be flexible in the purchase of crude and the changing specifications.” Benezit attended a ceremony in Port Arthur on May 5 to inaugurate the facility’s improvements, which also included a coker naphtha hydrotreater, hydrogen purification unit and sulfur recovery units. In addition, Total said the power supply of the refinery was modernized during the expansion when it was connected to a new 230kV network. That has revamped or affected nearly every other process unit in the refinery, officials said. Petrochemical options. The company noted that the Port

Arthur refinery’s integration with its adjacent joint venture (with BASF) petrochemical plant would offer “additional market opportunities” to maximize profits. Officials did not comment on whether they were considering an expansion of that facility. Petrochemical producers such as Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell said in recent weeks that they were considering expanding their US Gulf plants amid increased feedstock availability.

FIG. 1

Total’s refinery complex in Port Arthur, Texas.

FIG. 2

Petroleum coke is produced when the delayed coker is in operation and is cut from the unit’s coke drums every 18–20 hours, producing about 2,000 tpd of coke. The coke is sent to a dock via a conveyer and is sold as an industrial fuel.

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Construction details. The Port Arthur deep conversion project was announced on Feb. 12, 2008, employing more than 17,000 construction workers throughout the project. Workers logged nearly 18 million work hours upon completion, exceeding 5-million safe work hours without a loss time incident on two separate occasions, the company said. Total officials said they recognized that work by awarding the refinery with its highest company safety award. The Total Port Arthur refinery has a capacity of 232,000 bpd, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), making it the 27th-largest in the US. HP

FIG. 3

The new distillate hydrotreater produces ULSD, which is a more environmentally friendly fuel.

HPIN CONSTRUCTION the first Italian scientific and technological discovery in the oil refining sector and the biggest industrial project underway in the country. The project, which will be completed by the end of 2012 with the start of the 23,000-bpdoe-capacity plant, commenced during the 1990s by Eni at its San Donato Milanese labs. Work continued at the Taranto refinery, where a 1,200-bpdoe demo plant started operations in 2005, representing the reference point of the Sannazzaro plant. The new plant’s design, which will be carried out in accordance with the highest technological and environmental standards, began in 2008 and involved Saipem for the engineering activities.

Middle East Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has been awarded the Ras Tanura Refinery Clean Fuels and Aromatics Project, the first major project to be awarded under the Saudi Aramco general engineering and project management services (GES+) contract. Jacobs is executing the project from its office in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The project’s scope of services includes pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) services. In addition, the project includes modifications to the refinery to comply with future environmental regulations. The Ras Tanura refinery is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco has signed a hydrocracking unit license agreement with Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) for applying CLG’s ISOCRACKING technology to the Jazan Refinery Project that is in the front-end engineering and design (FEED) phase. The CLG-licensed hydrocracker will be used to convert 106,000 bpd of vacuum gas oil—from the new 400,000-bpd Jazan refinery—into high-quality diesel fuel, meeting EURO– V quality requirements. With this award, ISOCRACKING technology has been selected by Saudi Aramco for their newest refinery projects in the Kingdom. CLG will provide an engineering package—including the hydrocracking reactors, proprietary ISOMIX internals, ISOCRACKING catalysts, and follow-up technical support during the detailed engineering design, training prior to startup, and startup support—during the new refinery’s commissioning.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Mitsubishi Rayon Co. (MRC) have formed a 50/50 joint-venture company, to build and operate two plants—one for methyl methacrylate (MMA), and the other for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)—at one of SABIC’s manufacturing affiliates in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The next phase of this project will focus on the basic engineering design, completion of: supply agreements, regulatory

approvals and necessary details for the JV incorporation, implementation and execution activities. The MMA plant will reportedly be the largest ever built, with a 250,000-metrictpy capacity. It will use Lucite International’s (LI’s) Alpha technology. LI is a subsidiary of MRC, acquired in 2009. The PMMA plant will be based on MRC technology and will have a capacity of 40,000 metric tpy.

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Select 156 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS 29

HPIN CONSTRUCTION Asia-Pacific Foster Wheeler AG’s Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by Thai Oil Public Co., Ltd. for the basic design engineering package and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the Emission Improvement and PSA-3 project at Thai Oil’s refinery at Sriracha in Thailand. The project’s objectives are to give the

refinery greater flexibility in the crudes it can process, specifically to enable the refinery to process higher-sulfur crudes, to upgrade fuel oil to more valuable end products, and to meet new sulfur-oxide (SOx ) emission regulations coming into force in Thailand. Residue production will be reduced through the application of deep-cut vacuum technology, which helps mitigate the effects of heavier crude slates. In addi-

Experience The Difference Mustang has extensive experience with executing LNG projects – regasification or liquefaction, onshore or offshore, grassroots or brownfield. LNG Experience – Concept Studies, FEED, EPCM for liquefaction and regasification with NGL recovery Modular Experience – Proven scalable modular designs for offshore and onshore process modules Topsides Experience – Extensive topside designs for floating production facilities and FLNG Operating Experience – Operating and maintenance specialists to take projects beyond startup Technology Experience – Project design experience with third party liquefaction and regasification technologies Needing a partner for your next LNG regas or liquefaction project? Look to Mustang. Experienced. Global. Ready.

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tion, new sour-gas-handling facilities will be installed, including a sulfur-recovery unit and a tail-gas treatment unit, and the hydrogen-production capacity will be expanded by the installation of a new pressure-swing adsorption unit. Foster Wheeler’s scope also includes a significant element of revamp work. The project is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2013. The Shaw Group Inc.’s Mumbai, India, office has completed service work for the addition of a Shaw proprietary ultra selective cracking (USC) furnace for GAIL (India) Ltd. in Pata, Uttar Pradesh, India. Shaw provided engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for the furnace project and worked approximately one million work hours without a lost-time incident. Shaw has assumed full ownership and control of the operations of its Mumbai office, which previously operated as a 50/50 joint venture with an Indian partner. In December 2010, Shaw announced it will provide proprietary technology and basic engineering for a new 450,000-tpy ethylene plant for GAIL at the same site. Shaw will also provide support during detailed engineering, procurement and construction, and commissioning and startup of the plant. PETRONAS plans to embark on a new integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Southern Johor, Malaysia. The new development, to be known as Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (RAPID), is still at the detailed feasibility study stage. It is estimated that it will cost about $20 billion and will comprise a crude oil refinery with a 300,000-bpd capacity, a naphtha cracker that will produce about 3 million tpy of ethylene, propylene, C4 and C5 olefins, and a petrochemicals and polymer complex that will produce differentiated and highly specialized chemicals. Greater in scale and scope than that of PETRONAS’ Melaka, Kertih and Gebeng complexes combined, the proposed development is expected to turn Southern Johor into another major petroleum and petrochemical center in the region. The project is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2016.

www.mustangeng.com A subsibiary of Foster Wheeler AG’s Global Engineering and Construction Select 157 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS 30

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HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 31

HPIN CONSTRUCTION Group has been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract by Star Petroleum Refining Co., Ltd. (SPRC) for the residue fluidized catalytic cracking unit (RFCCU) revamp turnaround and inspection project at its refinery at Map Ta Phut in Thailand. The project’s objective is to revamp the RFCCU to improve onstream reliability together with environmental and performance improvements. Foster Wheeler will carry out the FEED for this major revamp, including licensor selection, and will also work with SPRC to evaluate the existing RFCCU maintenance and reliability philosophies with a view to identifying any changes that may be needed in the future to retain the continuous improvement of onstream performance. The FEED is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2012. Davy Process Technology and Johnson Matthey Catalysts (JM Catalysts), both part of Johnson Matthey Plc, have entered into contracts with Liaoning Datang International Fuxin Coal to Gas Co. Ltd. for a plant to produce substitute natural gas (SNG) from coal. The scope of the project includes a technology license, basic engineering design, catalysts and support services for the methanation unit that converts synthesis gas to SNG. The new plant will be located in XinQiu District, Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, China, and have a capacity of 4,000,000 Nm3/day of SNG. This will be the fourth major SNG project that Davy/JM Catalysts have licensed in China. Shell Development (Australia) Pty. Ltd. has given notice to a Technip Samsung Consortium (TSC) to proceed with the construction of what is said to be the first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in the world. TSC will provide engineering, procurement, construction and installation for the FLNG facility that Shell will deploy at its Prelude gas field off the northwest coast of Australia. Moored far out at sea, some 200 km from the nearest land, the Prelude FLNG facility will produce gas from offshore fields and liquefy it onboard by cooling. The facility’s detailed design will be undertaken by TSC at Technip’s operating centers in Paris, France, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and it will be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, Korea. 32

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Siemens Water Technologies will provide a system to treat wastewater at China Petroleum & Chemical Corp’s (Sinopec Corp.’s) Anqing refinery, in Anhui Province, China. The complete wastewater -treatment solution will include a powdered activated carbon treatment (PACT) system, a Zimpro wet air regeneration (WAR) hydrothermal unit and a HydroClear sand filtration system. The three-tier system will be used to treat salty and oily wastewater from refining and petrochemical production activities from existing and upgraded units. The wastewater needs to meet the Chinese specifications for surface discharge. The system will become operational in 2012. Honeywell has been selected by North Refineries Co. (NRC) as the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor to upgrade the automation systems at NRC’s refinery in Baiji, Iraq. The multimillion-dollar contract for the upgrading of NRC’s existing control system will improve the refinery’s operational efficiencies, reliability and safety. Honeywell solutions will be used, including the award-winning Experion Process Knowledge System and Safety Manager, fully automating the facility and replacing its 30-year-old single-loop instrument control system. In addition to improving safety and security at the plant, the new automation investment will allow NRC to maximize productivity, while offering full scalability to support future technology upgrades. Honeywell Process Solutions’ technology will manage a wide range of processes, helping to optimize yield while reducing maintenance costs by up to 30%. Honeywell will also provide technical training to NRC employees to promote seamless migration from the plant’s existing systems. Huntsman Corp. has signed a license agreement with Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Co., Ltd., for the production of propylene oxide (PO) and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a co-product of PO. Yantai Wanhua plans to leverage the license to build a worldscale PO/ MTBE plant at its facility in Yantai, Shandong Province, China, with construction expected to commence later this year and beneficial production due in late 2013.

The technology of UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, has been selected for a new transportation-fuel refinery to be built in Iraq. The State Company for Oil Projects (SCOP), under the Ministry of Oil for Iraq, has selected Honeywell’s UOP to provide key technologies to process 300,000 bpd of domestic crude oil into gasoline and diesel fuel at the new facility in Nassiriya, Iraq. UOP will provide reforming, isomerization, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and selective hydrotreating technologies. As part of the overall technology package, UOP will provide basic engineering, technology licenses, catalysts and specialty equipment for the new refinery. Design will begin in the second quarter of 2011. The specific UOP technologies to be provided to SCOP include the Continuous Catalytic Regenerative (CCR) Platforming and Penex processes, that are used to produce high-octane gasoline, as well as the UOP FCC and Selectfining technologies, that enable high-yield production of ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel and gasoline. Honeywell has announced that Hindustan Petroleum Corp., Ltd. has implemented Honeywell Process Solutions’ Mobile Stations in its prestigious $200-million new fluid catalytic-cracking unit (FCCU) project at its Mumbai refinery. The Mobile Stations increase productivity and reduce operating costs of standard communication infrastructure by expediting the commissioning of different systems and subsystems. Burckhardt Compression has been awarded two orders by SINOPEC Wuhan Co. to deliver a total of six Laby compressors for its petrochemical complex. Two compressors will be used for propylene compression; one as a recycle gas compressor (ST process) and one as an offgas compressor (JPP process). Delivery of those compressors will take place in Q1 2012 and, Q4 2011, respectively. In addition, four compressors will be used for ethylene liquefaction—two for ethylene BOG compression within the recondensing cycle, and two for propane compression within the refrigeration cycle. Installation is scheduled to be after Q1 2012. The 800,000tpy ethylene project is said to be the largest integration project in central China. HP Expanded versions of these items can be found online at HydrocarbonProcessing.com.

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HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE Company

City

Plant Site

Project

NNPC NNPC NNPC CNPC\Sudan Energy and Mining

Bayelsa Imo State Kogi Khartoum

Bayelsa Egbema Kogi Khartoum

Refinery Refinery Refinery Refinery

Capacity Unit Cost Status Yr Cmpl Licensor

Engineering

Constructor

AFRICA Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria Sudan

TO RE

300 100 150 100

bpd bpd bpd bpd

2800 P 2500 U 2016 23000 P C 2011

3.6 1.5 720 260 9 145 300 180 84 100

Mm-tpy 12.6 P 2016 Mtpy 750 C 2011 m-t 17.5 C 2011 Mm-tpy 1000.7 P 2015 m-tpy 446 P 2017 bpd U 2012 bpd 1670 P 2016 bpd 1800 U 2015 t/a 110.5 P 2012 Mbpd 1570 F 2012

ASIA/PACIFIC Australia Australia China China India Japan Malaysia Philippine Repub South Korea Sri Lanka

Shell Royal Dutch Santos\PETRONAS JV Keyuan Petrochemicals SABIC\Sinopec JV BPCL/Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd. JV Nippon Oil Co Petronas Petron Corp KKPC Ceylon Petr Corp

Offshore Queensland Ningbo Tianjin Bina Sendai Johor Bahru Bataan Yeosu Sapugaskanda

West Australia Bowen-Surat Basin Ningbo Tianjin Bina, Madhya Pradesh Sendai Pengerang Bataan Yeosu Sapugaskanda

LNG Floating (FLNG) LNG Styrene Polycarbonate Refinery Refinery Refinery Refinery Styrene Refinery

Vietnam

Technostar Management Ltd / Telloil

Phu Yen

Vung Ro

Refinery

8 m-t

Canadian Nat Resources Suncor Energy Inc Athabasca DCEP

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray Fort Saskatchewan Kitimat

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray Scotford Kitimat

Coker, Delayed Storage, Tank Upgrader LNG Terminal

126 Mbpd None 255 bpd 900 tpy

Electricite de France SA / Total SA BASF Eni SpA Goteborg Energi AB Undisclosed

Dunkirk Ludwigshafen Sannazzaro Gothenburg Black Sea

LNG Terminal Polyacetals Processing, Heavy Oil Biomethane LNG Terminal

Lavan Island Sohar Mesaieed Ras Laffan Al Jubail Jubail Ruwais

Lavan Island Sohar Mesaieed Ras Laffan Al Jubail Jubail Ind City Ruwais

Distillation, VDU Refinery Polyethylene, LD (3) EX Ethane Cracker Elastomers Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) Refinery (7) EX

50 187 300 1.3 400 300 417

Lake Charles Pascagoula Freeport Mont Belvieu Mont Belvieu

Ethylene Tetramerisation Hydrofinishing, Lubes Propylene (2) NGL Fractionation Propylene EX

100 m-tpy None 900 tpy 100 bpd 80.5 bpd

EX EX EX EX EX EX

Total

Technip|Samsung H I Fluor

Fluor

CB&I|FW|Axens|UOP

Daelim

Oil Design and Construction Oil Design and Construction

2500 U 2013

PetroChina

142 50 1300 360

Lummus Technology

CANADA Alberta Alberta Alberta British Columbia

E E C P

2013 2013 2011 2012

Technip CB&I KBR|TIC|Bantrel|PCL

CB&I PCL |Bantrel|TIC|KBR

EUROPE France Germany Italy Sweden Ukraine

10 74 23 20 10

Bcmy tpy bpd MW Bcm

P 2014 C 2011 1560 U 2012 19 E 2013 P 2014

Mbpd bpd Mtpy MMtpy Mt tpy bpd

58 C 2011 40 F 2012 C 2011 6000 P 2015 F 750 U 2012 1000 U 2013

Uhde Inventa-Fischer Jacobs

Haldor Topsøe|Metso

Namvaran CB&I|JGC|CLG|UOP Uhde

Mehvar UOP|CLG|JGC Tekfen Constr

Fluor|Jacobs |MES Daelim GTC, Inc|GS E&C

GTC, Inc|GS E&C

MIDDLE EAST Iran Oman Qatar Qatar Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia UAE

Lavan Oil Refinery Oman Oil Co QAPCO Shell Royal Dutch KEMYA Arabian Chlorovinyl Company Takreer

Basell

UNITED STATES Louisiana Mississippi Texas Texas Texas

Sasol Chevron Dow Chemical Energy Transfer Enterprise Products

E 1400 U P 375 U P

2013 2013 2018 2013 2013

BOXSCORE DATABASE

S&B KBR

S&B Lone Star Gas Liquids

ONLINE

THE GLOBAL SOURCE FOR TRACKING HPI CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY For more than 50 years, Hydrocarbon Processing magazine remains the only source that collects and maintains data speciﬁcally for the HPI community, publishing up-to-the-minute construction projects from around the globe with our online product, Boxscore Database. Updated weekly, our database helps engineers, contractors and marketing personnel identify active HPI construction projects around the world to: • Generate leads • Market research • Track trend analysis • And, decide future budget planning. Now, we’ve made our best product even better! Enhancements include: • Exporting your search results to Excel so you can compile your research • Delivering the latest updated projects directly to your inbox each week • Designing customized construction reports for your company using our 50 years of archived projects. For a Free 2 -Week Trial, contact Lee Nichols at +1 (713) 525-4626, Lee.Nichols@GulfPub.com, or visit www.ConstructionBoxscore.com

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

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LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

SPECIALREPORT

Two-phase fluid cycle efficiently recovers power from FSRUs Compact design is efficient and economical A. GOSWAMI, KBR UK Ltd., Greenford, United Kingdom; and H. E. KIMMEL, Ebara International Corp., Sparks, Nevada

loating storage regasification units (FSRUs); floating production, storage and offloading units (FPSOs); and floating drilling, production, storage and offloading units (FDPSO) are floating vessels used by the offshore industry for the drilling, processing, storage and transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or oil. When offloading the LNG cargo in gaseous form, the LNG is vaporized in a regasification unit onboard the vessel, usually using ocean water as the heat source. Due to the large temperature difference between the LNG and the environment, a substantial power recovery is available. This article will describe a two-phase fluid Rankine cycle to efficiently recover power from floating regasification plants using fieldproven rotating and nonrotating equipment. The offshore regasification process is similar to the onshore process, although an offshore plant can have significant differences.1 Every square meter of an offshore footprint is relatively expensive; it requires the support of an offshore structure. The design must be compact to keep the surface area small. Due to the limited space, additional risk mitigation measures and hazard and operability study (HAZOP) assessments are required.2

• High-pressure send-out pumps to bring the LNG from storage pressure through the vaporizer to pipeline pressure • The vaporizer to transform the LNG into gaseous natural gas. The proposed regasification process incorporates a third element: • The power recovery system to partially regain the input energy used in the overall process. Figs. 1 and 2 show the cryogenic highpressure LNG pump for pressurizing the fluid up to the high pipeline pressure while it is still in the liquid state. Typical dimensions for these pumps are 4 m in height and 1 m in diameter, with 12 centrifugal pump impeller stages, each with a 300-mm diameter.

There are particular design features shown in Fig. 3 for high-pressure centrifugal LNG pumps: • The single-piece rotating shaft with integrally mounted multi-stage pump hydraulics and an electrical induction motor • The thrust-balancing mechanism to eliminate high axial thrust forces on the bearings. The self adjusting mechanism allows the ball bearings to operate essentially at no load over the entire usable capacity range for pumping. This feature substantially increases the reliability of the bearings, and reduces maintenance costs. In addition, normal machine wear patterns are compensated by the self adjusting mechanism

Impact of motion. The continuous ves-

sel motion impacts the design of the process equipment for operation under these dynamic conditions. Rotating equipment has to be designed to withstand the additional gyroscopic forces caused by the vessel movements. The design of any equipment requires that the center of gravity is as low as possible to increase the vessel’s stability. The conventional regasification process for onshore and offshore plants incorporates two major elements:

FIG. 1

Nine-stage submersible LNG sendout pump, post-performance test.

FIG. 2

An LNG sendout pump upon removal from a performance test stand.

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 37

SPECIALREPORT

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

• The thrust balancing mechanism responds within less than 20 milliseconds, to changes in the thrust force. • The electrical induction motor is submerged in and cooled by LNG

• The ball bearings are lubricated and cooled by LNG. Table 1 summarizes the general highpressure pump design criteria.

the heat sources and the heat sinks are in the range of 170°C, providing the preconditions for an efficient recovery of power. The Rankine cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that converts heat into work. The heat is supplied externally to a closed loop with a particular working fluid, and also requires a heat sink. This cycle generates about 80% of all global electric power. The Rankine cycle is shown using a typical Mollier diagram with the pressure (p) over the enthalpy (h). The ideal Rankine cycle with singlephase vapor expansion consists of the following four process steps (Fig. 4):3 • 1r2 Isentropic compression of the liquid fluid to a high pressure in a pump • 2r3 Constant high-pressure heat addition in a boiler to completely vaporize the fluid • 3r4 Isentropic expansion in a turbine gas expander to low pressure • 4r1 Constant low-pressure heat rejection in a condenser to re-liquefy the fluid.

Power-recovery system. LNG regasification plants represent large heat sinks that necessitate large heat sources. The differences in temperature between

TABLE 1. General pump design criteria Liquid

LNG

Pump design pressure

133.4 bara

Lowest design temperature

–168°C

Operating temperature

–147°C

Rated flow

287 m3/hr

Rated differential head

2,396 m

Rated density

417.417 kg/m3

Maximum design density

451.00 kg/m3

LNG

Heat sink Heat

4 3

Heat

Heat source

Heat 3

FIG. 3

Cross-sectional view of a highpressure cryogenic LNG pump, 15 stages.

FIG. 6

Rankine cycle equipment schematic.

Heat

Plow

Phigh

Pressure

Phigh

2 Heat

Plow

h1 h2

Enthalpy FIG. 4

Four steps of an ideal Rankine cycle.

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

4 Heat

Heat

h1 h2

FIG. 5

h3 Enthalpy

Graphical representation of Rankine cycle with a liquidvapor two-phase expansion.

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS The two-phase fluid ideal Rankine cycle with liquid-vapor two-phase expansion (Fig. 5) consists basically of the same four steps, with the difference being that the pressurized liquid is only partially vaporized, thus remaining within the saturation dome and the isentropic expansion of the liquid-vapor mixture is achieved in a twophase fluid expander. The thermodynamic efficiency ␩therm of the ideal Rankine power cycle is the ratio of the net power output wnet to the heat input qin . The net power output wnet is the difference between the work output wout from the expander and the work input win to the pump. wout = h3 – h4 win = h2 – h1 This is calculated by the enthalpies h1,h2,h3,h4, given by the four steps in the described process: wnet = (h3 – h4 ) – (h2 – h1 ) The heat input qin is the enthalpy difference between steps 3 and 2. qin = h3 – h2

FIG. 7

Compact assembly of a pump twophase expander (PTPXG) generator cooled by liquid nitrogen or a similar nonexplosive fluid.

Two-phase Rankine power cycle.

For power recovery using a two-phase fluid Rankine cycle in LNG regasification plants, several field-proven working fluids are available and are used in similar applications. To achieve a higher efficiency, the working fluid is passed through two heat exchangers and one pump two-phase expander generator (PTPXG), a compact assembly of a pump, a two-phase expander and an induction generator integrally mounted on one rotating shaft. Fig. 6 presents the schematic of the equipment using the Rankine power cycle with two-phase expansion following the four described process steps: • 1r2 With work input, the pump (P) pressurizes the liquid single-phase working fluid from low pressure to high pressure. • 2r3 The pressurized single-phase working fluid is heated and partially vaporized by passing through the generator (G) and the heat exchanger with the heat provided by seawater or other heat sources, • 3r4 The pressurized and heated two-phase saturated working fluid expands

FIG. 8

Compact assembly of a pump two-phase expander (PTPXG) generator cooled by propane or a similar explosive fluid.

SPECIALREPORT

from high-pressure to low pressure across the two-phase expander (T) generating a work output. • 4r1 The low-pressure two-phase saturated working fluid passes through a heat exchanger with the heat sink, the LNG for regasification. The working fluid condenses from a saturated liquid-vapor two-phase to a nonsaturated liquid single-phase. The compact assembly of a PTPXG is demonstrated in Figs. 7 and 8 as two different designs of PTPXP. In Fig. 7, the working fluid enters the pump at the lower inlet nozzle, exits the pump to the side and passes through the generator housing cooling the generator, thus recovering the heat losses of the generator. After passing through the heat exchanger with the heat source, the saturated working fluid expands across the two-phase expander generating work, driving the pump and the induction generator. In the modified design shown in Fig. 8, the pressurized single-phase fluid passes directly from the pump through the generator housing, thus cooling the generator, and then exits to the side to pass through

FIG. 9

Cross-section of a two-phase expander assembly.

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 39

SPECIALREPORT

FIG. 10

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

FIG. 13

Radial inflow turbine runner.

FIG. 14

Jet exducer.

FIG. 16

Two-phase expander post performance test.

FIG. 17

The Golar Winter, FSRU for Golar LNG, Norway. (Photo courtesy of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd.)

Cross-section of a two-phase expander assembly inside a pressurized containment vessel.

Two-phase expander generator. The two-phase expander generator

FIG. 11

FIG. 12

Two-phase hydraulic assembly.

Two-phase nozzle ring.

the heat exchanger. In both design versions the leakage flows through the seal and the axial thrust is minimized due to equal pressure on both sides of the seal and opposing directions of the axial thrust forces. The following are advantages of the compact assembly PTPXG: • The expander work output is larger than the pump work input, and the difference in work is converted by the gen40

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

FIG. 15

Two-phase draft tube.

erator into electrical energy. • The losses of a separate pump motor are eliminated. • The losses of the induction generator are recovered and used as a heat source to heat the working fluid in addition to the heat from seawater and other heat sources. • Any leakage of the working fluid is within a closed loop and occurs only between the pump and expander. • Any leakage of the working fluid is minimized due to equal pressure on both sides of the seal, and small leakages are within a closed loop and occur only between the pump, expander and generator. • The axial thrust is minimized due to opposing directions of the thrust forces decreasing the bearing load and increasing the bearing life.

produces the power within the compact assembly of the PTPXG.4 Fig. 9 shows the cross-section of the expander, and Fig. 10 presents the expander inside the pressurized containment vessel with the lowerinlet and upper-outlet nozzle. Fig. 11 illustrates the two-phase hydraulic assembly with the nonrotating nozzle ring on the bottom, followed by the rotating turbine runner with the jet exducer mounted on top of the runner, and, on top, the nonrotating two-phase draft tube.5 Fig. 12 shows the nozzle ring with converging nozzles to generate a high-velocity vortex flow, and Fig. 13 shows the radial inflow reaction turbine runner converting the angular fluid momentum of the vortex flow into shaft torque. The jet exducer shown in Fig. 14 is a radial outflow turbine mounted on top of the runner generating additional shaft torque by an angular fluid momentum in the opposite direction of the nozzle ring angular momentum with a near isentropic two-phase expansion to the lower pressure. The two-phase draft tube displayed in Fig. 15 recovers energy by converting the

LNG DEVELOPMENTS remaining rotational kinetic energy into static-pressure energy. During startup of the compact assembly, the induction generator operates as an induction motor below the synchronous speed. When the shaft power of the expander is greater than the shaft power of the pump, then the induction motor operates in the generator mode above the synchronous speed. Summary. Liquid-vapor two-phase

expander generators have been successfully operating at PGNiG in Odalanów, Poland, since 2003. Fig. 16 shows one of the two-phase LNG expanders on the LNG test stand in Nevada. The presented Rankine power cycle, incorporating a compact design—consisting of a pump, a two-phase liquefied gas expander and an induction generator integrally mounted on one single rotating shaft—offers efficient and economical power recovery for floating LNG regasification units. An example of a current floating unit, Fig. 17 shows the FSRU Golar Winter for Golar LNG, Norway. Future FSRUs will be equipped with power-recovery systems. HP 1 2

LITERATURE CITED Chiu, C.-H. et al., “LNG: Basics of Liquefied Natural Gas,” The University of Texas at Austin. Dian, I. M., “LNG Receiving Storage and Regasification Terminals,” Spanish Gas Association, Barcelona, Spain, 2010. Cengel, Y. A., et al., “Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach,” The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Hightstown, New Jersey, 1998. Kimmel, H. E., “An Emphasis on LNG Expanders,” LNG Industry Summer 2009, Palladian Publications Ltd., Farnham, UK, 2009. Goswami, A., et al., “Power Recovery in Floating LNG Regasification Plants,” OSEA2010, 18th International Oil and Gas Industry Exhibition and Conference, Singapore, 2010.

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LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

SPECIALREPORT

What are the benefits from mass transfer rate-based simulation? Models are highly detailed and predictive R. H. WEILAND and N. A. HATCHER, Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., Houston, Texas

lkanolamines have been successfully used for 80 years for sweetening hydrocarbon products. Despite the longevity and track record of amine treating as a process, it is common to find that calculation methods rely heavily on rulesof-thumb and the now-antiquated approximation of ideal or theoretical stages. The advent 30 years ago of high-speed, desktop computing power makes this approach not just severely limiting, but also unnecessary. Designing for mass transfer. Compared with mass separations, heat transfer is a relatively simple operation involving transferring the single entity, heat. Mass transfer, on the other hand, involves transporting many components as well as heat. It also involves complex phase-equilibrium thermodynamics, as well as chemical reaction equilibrium and kinetics. Conceptually, the difference between heat and mass transfer is computational, rather than fundamental. The beauty of mass transfer rate-based simulation is that separations equipment can be designed and analyzed completely without recourse to theoretical stages, tray efficiencies and transfer unit heights. The separation is calculated directly without appealing to such artificialities, using only equipment parameters that can be measured with a ruler. Heat exchangers are never treated as equilibrium stages, and masstransfer calculations don’t have to be either. After 25 years of successfully applying mass transfer rate-based simulation tools to such diverse operations as azeotropic and extractive distillation, three-phase distillation, distillation with catalytic chemical reaction and reactive amine-based gas absorption, the need for efficiencies and residence-times on theoretical stages is past. So what does the term “mass transfer rate-based” really mean and what distinguishes it from other approaches? Instead of efficiencies and height equivalent to transfer plates (HETPs), mass transfer rate models use mass (and heat) transfer coefficients, gas-liquid contact areas (equivalent to heat transfer surface areas), and concentration difference driving forces (just like temperature differences in heat transfer). Fig. 1 illustrates a magnified view of the gas-liquid interfacial region of the liquid film flowing on the surface of structured packing. Just as temperature differences drive heat flow, concentration differences drive the diffusion of material species. Mass-transfer coefficients play the role of heat-transfer coefficients, and now the interface across which chemical components transfer is a flexible moving boundary rather than the fixed boundary of a heat-exchanger tube or plate. The advantage in heat transfer is individual shell and

tube-side coefficients for heat transfer that are readily correlated with thermal transport properties (density, heat capacity, thermal conductivity) and equipment geometry (tube diameter, plate spacing, baffle placement). This allows heat-transfer calculations to be generalized and fully predictive. If there are good correlations for individual heat transfer coefficients and the equipment geometry has been characterized by physical measurement, the performance of a given heat exchanger can be predicted. This is also true for mass transfer. Good correlations for film coefficients and measured equipment geometries (weir heights, passes, open area on trays, random packing size and brand, or crimp angle and crimp height of a structured packing) allow the performance of a real tray or a given depth of real packing to be predicted. The mass transfer rate model does not use artificial parameters such as residence time per theoretical stage, or HETP, and it does not rely on engineer-supplied estimates of efficiency any more than heat-transfer calculations do. A mass transfer rate-based model should not be confused with “rate-based” or one that estimates tray efficiency and then applies it to a few equilibrium stages. There seems to be disinformation, at least in the gas-treating arena, as to what constitutes a rate model. Any column simulation based on equilibrium-stage calculations, no matter how modified, is patently not a rate model. The need for a mass-transfer-rate basis is most evident when selectivity for hydrogen sulfide (H2S) over carbon dioxide (CO2 ) is a concern, commonly when aqueous methyl diethanolamine (MDEA) is the

p Rate = kGa (p-p*)

p* Physical solubility c*

Chemical solubility

Rate = kLa (c*-c)

c Gas

FIG. 1

Liquid

Region around the gas-liquid interface of liquid film flowing over packing. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 43

SPECIALREPORT

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

solvent. MDEA absorbs CO2 slowly because the main reaction, CO2 hydrolysis to bicarbonate, is slow. Nevertheless, MDEA is capable of absorbing a lot of CO2 , so CO2 absorption cannot be ignored. In fact, it determines the CO2 slip through the absorber, influences the equilibrium pressure of H2S and the H2S-treated gas content. Getting the CO2 slip right is critically important to getting the treating right. One approach to modeling CO2 absorption by MDEA which retains the equilibrium stage concept while attempting to account for reaction rates, is to conceptualize the liquid volume held up on a theoretical stage as a stirred tank reactor. This conceptualization is illustrated in Fig. 2, where several trays or a large volume of random or structured packing is represented by a single ideal

V out CO2

Lin CO2

Rxn rate = k2 Cco2 CMDEA Lθ V in CO2 FIG. 2

Lout CO2

Ideal stage with chemical reaction as the rate-limiting step.

contact stage. Dissolved molecular CO2 reacts with MDEA at a rate dictated by the reaction kinetics. For an ideal stage whose liquid holdup volume is V (equal to volumetric liquid flowrate, L, multiplied by the ideal-stage residence time, ␪), CO2 disappears by reaction on the stage at the rate (mol/s) shown in Fig. 2. Physically, an ideal stage is unrelated to anything that is inside the column. Since this is an idealization, the meaning of ideal-stage residence time defies reason. In principle, the calculated reaction rate (Fig. 2) can be used to compute the increase in total flowrate of dissolved CO2 between the liquid inlet and outlet (i.e., separation). This allows the outlet liquid not to be in equilibrium with the outlet gas (equilibrium is the primary approximation of the equilibrium stage model). Is the problem solved? Not quite. There are two issues with this approach. The first is how to assign a value to the ethereal residence time on a theoretical stage. The second is there is no way of knowing the concentration of dissolved but unreacted CO2 in the bulk liquid phase, CCO . If the reaction was fast, CCO could be 2 2 zero; if it’s slow, it could be the value in equilibrium with the gas. Absorption is a two-step process: • Dissolve, then diffuse through the liquid • React. The simplest assumption is that the reaction is slow enough and the mass transfer is fast enough for CCO —always to have 2 its equilibrium value (i.e., no mass transfer resistance and the rate-limiting step is reaction). The reactor model focuses on the wrong process as the rate-limiting step. In fact, CO2 absorption is never reaction-rate controlled—it is always mass-transfer-rate controlled. Disregarding this fact may result in the highest calculated absorption amount. Although simulation can be matched to plant performance data through the adjustable parameter, ␪, the residence time per theoretical stage is disconnected from anything physical. The right value for a new situation is just as unknown as stage efficiency. If too small a value is guessed, then there is too little CO2 removed; too large, then too much is removed. There is an element of “rate” through reaction kinetics, but to call it ratebased is disingenuous—it is still an equilibrium stage model, but now containing an adjustable parameter. Recently, Nagpal concluded that accurate “rate-based” process simulators are required for optimal design of sulfur removal units (SRUs) and tail-gas-treating units (TGTUs), but there is considerable variability among commercial simulators.1 Unfortunately, the simulators compared by Nagpal were not mass transfer rate

6 Measured Simulated H2S leak, ppmv

2 98

FIG. 3 Select 161 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS 44

100

102 104 Lean amine temperature, °F

106

108

Measured vs. simulated H2S leak for June 28, 2009 data.

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

SPECIALREPORT

TABLE 1. Plant performance data for 60% capacity operation compared with simulation Time

Gas rate, MMscfd

Amine rate, gpm

Lean amine, °F

Raw gas, °F

Inlet H2S, ppm

Outlet H2S, ppm

Inlet, CO2%

Outlet, CO2%

Calc H2S, ppm

Calc CO2, mol %

7:30 a.m.

200

8:00 a.m.

202

240

100

84.0

400

3.0

2.4

1.8

3.64

1.67

240

99.2

85.2

400

2.8

2.4

1.8

3.73

1.68

8:30 a.m.

202

9:00 a.m.

199

240

99.6

86.6

400

2.6

2.4

1.7

3.82

1.69

240

100.8

87.8

400

3.3

2.4

1.7

3.85

9:30 a.m.

1.69

199

240

101.2

89.2

380

3.4

2.4

1.7

3.80

1.70

10:00 a.m.

198

240

102.5

91.0

380

3.7

2.4

1.7

3.90

1.70

10:30 a.m.

202

240

103.5

93.3

380

3.9

2.4

1.7

4.14

1.72

11:30 a.m.

203

240

104.3

94.8

380

4.2

2.4

1.7

4.27

1.72

12:00 p.m.

203

240

105.6

96.0

380

4.7

2.4

1.6

4.38

1.73

12:30 p.m.

207

245

106.3

95.5

380

4.6

2.4

1.6

4.60

1.73

1:00 p.m.

207

245

106.4

96.5

380

5.3

2.4

1.6

4.68

1.73

1:30 p.m.

209

250

106.8

96.8

390

5.2

2.4

1.6

4.99

1.74

2:30 p.m.

209

255

107.4

95.9

380

5.3

2.4

1.6

5.02

1.73

3:00 p.m.

209

255

107.2

96.8

380

5.6

2.4

1.6

5.09

1.73

4:00 p.m.

209

255

106.5

95.2

380

4.9

2.4

1.6

4.98

1.72

based. His conclusion—that reliable operating data from existing units are required to validate the simulator results deserves applause. It is futile to compare results between simulators and vendor runs because all are simply simulations. Traditionally, the focus of most ideal stage-based simulation has been trays. Equilibrium stage models cannot confidently determine the bed height needed and the separation to be expected in packed tower. A mass-transfer rate-based simulator is compulsory. A simulation tool is truly rate-based only if it: • Does not use equilibrium stages in any way • Asks for no data that cannot be directly measured in the plant • Reliably predicts performance without knowing the answers first • Predicts tray performance and random and structured packing. Not meeting capacity in a shale-gas-treating plant.

Shale gas is usually low in H2S but high enough in CO2, where it’s difficult to treat. A particular plant was intended to use 50 wt% MDEA to treat, to pipeline quality, 330 million standard cupic feet per day (MMsdfd) of a high-pressure gas having 700 ppmv H2S and 2.5% CO2. The plant was designed using an equilibrium-stage based simulation tool, and, from the day it started up there was a major problem. Beyond 60% of the design gas rate, the 12-tray contactor could not meet the 4-ppmv H2S specification, and the CO2 level was already well below the targeted 2% even with maximum solvent circulation rate, maximum reboiler duty and only 400 ppmv H2S in the raw gas. Startup was during the relatively cool month of June, but with August approaching, the situation was likely to get worse. Mass transfer rate-based simulation showed that missing the H2S treat was caused by absorbing far more CO2 than suggested by the original design tool. In essence, the predicted CO2 slip was wrong. With a mass-transfer rate-based amine simulator in their hands, the engineers first tried to predict the performance of the plant as measured shortly after startup. Data for an 8-hr period were compared with simulation in Table 1, and the data provided confidence in the simulation tool. The calculated results were obtained “out of the box” using no adjustable parameters whatsoever—absolutely none. As Fig. 3 illustrates, the H2S leak from the

FIG. 4

Two-pass tray with recessed seal pan and anti-jump baffle.

absorber tracked extremely well with the temperature of the lean amine. However, it did not provide even a hint at what the cause was or what the best “fix” might be. As an interim measure, the solvent vendor proposed a formulated MDEA containing an acidic stripping agent to reduce the H2S loading in the lean amine so that at least the 60% production level could be maintained over the summer.2 Using the mass transfer rate-based simulator, the plant’s engineers showed that this solvent would allow < 4 ppmv H2S leak, and with the treating rate improved to 73% of capacity. As a result, the existing 50 wt% MDEA solvent was gradually converted to the formulated solvent, and plant capacity also increased despite the high summer temperatures. The longer-term remedy for the plant was retraying the absorber. Twelve trays were sufficient to reach 4 ppmv H2S only at reduced rates. Mass transfer rate-based simulation showed that adding more trays would remove more CO2 but not allow 4 ppmv H2S gas to be produced at design rates. However, it is known that if trays can be forced into the spray regime of operation, much improved selectivity can result.3 Tray weir liquid loads below 60 gpm/ft of weir length result in spray formation. Also, the lower the weir load, the more the biphase on the tray becomes a spray of fine droplets (approximately 1 mm). Even though a single pass tray was hydraulically adequate, the new trays were built with two passes, i.e., double the weir length or half the weir load (Fig. 4). Within the existing shell constraint, the tower could accommodate 18 trays on closer spacing. Simulation suggested the gas would be 2.5 HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 45

SPECIALREPORT

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS 1,150 ppmw acetate 815 ppmw formate 220 ppmw oxalate 5,930 ppmw thiosulphate

To vent 3

Cooler 18

Control

Contactor

X exchanger

Tail gas 4 7

FIG. 5

Refinery tail-gas treating unit.

0.008 H2S leak to vent H2S loading

0.007 0.006 0.005

0.004 20

0.003 0.002

Lean H2S loading, mol/mol

H2S leak to vent, ppmv

0.001 0 0

FIG. 6

40 60 Wt% of HSSs removed

0.000 100

Solvent reclaiming effect on TGTU performance.

TABLE 2. Analysis of solvent used in fuel-gas treater MDEA, wt%

CO2, loading

0.00014

H2S, loading

0.0009

Acetate, ppmw

2,580

Formate, ppmw Sulfate, ppmw

14,305 230

Thiocyanate, ppmw

3,225

Chloride, ppmw

1,675

ppmv H2S using 50 wt% generic MDEA. This was too close for surety and the backup plan was to reintroduce formulated solvent that would guarantee just below 2% CO2 and < 0.2 ppmv H2S. Another valuable result from the mass transfer rate-based simulations was the discovery that a solvent rate considerably less than maximum solvent rate was necessary to meet the treating objective with generic MDEA. The reason is that low solvent rates significantly reduce weir liquid loads, improving selectivity by generating a greater proportion of spray vs. froth, i.e., higher CO2 slip and better H2S removal. Correcting poor treating of refinery fuel gas. Refin-

ery amine systems are notoriously contaminated with heat-stable salts (HSSs) generated in cracking and hydrotreating operations. In this example, to reduce operating expenses, a refinery switched from monoetheolanine (MEA) to MDEA during a turnaround. At the same time, they revamped the fuel gas treaters from trays to random packing. 46

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Before the revamp, the high-pressure treater was satisfactorily sweetening a 200-psig fuel-gas stream from 0.5% H2S To SRU to below 4 ppmv. Following the revamp, 13 11 the column failed to achieve satisfactory treating. The solvent vendor’s simulation 12 suggested the contactor should be capable Regenerator of reaching 2 ppmv H 2S in the treated gas, but H2S leaks in the range from 20 10 ppmv–30 ppmv were measured regularly. In agreement with the solvent vendor’s expectations, a popular commercial simulation tool also suggested that the treated 14 gas should contain 1 ppmv–2 ppmv H2S. The simulation basis was a clean solvent and both sets of simulations used measured acid gas loadings in the lean solvent. Neither was capable of simulating a regenerator. The presence of HSSs was not considered, nor could this factor be accounted for by either simulator. With clean-solvent simulation results, a consultant blamed the trays-to-packing revamp for the failure under the flawed premise that the liquid residence time on the packing was too short to allow sufficient H2S absorption. This is surprising when CO2 , not H2S, absorption into MDEA is suggested to be residence-time dependent. On the consultant’s recommendation, the tower was revamped back to trays. However, the results were extremely disappointing—performance was essentially unchanged from packing. This was a consequence of ignoring the effect of HSSs. However, in the absence of accurate lean loading values, reliable regenerator simulation is critical to assessing HSS effects and mass transfer rate-based simulation is the best way to do this. When the solvent analysis shown in Table 2 was used in masstransfer rate-based simulations, packing was predicted to produce 26.5 ppmv H2S and 26.0 ppmv for the 17 trays. A performance test on the trayed column showed a treating level of 26 ppmv H2S, in perfect agreement with the mass transfer rate-based simulation. If the correct simulation tool is used in the first place, the embarrassment of a failed, expensive revamp can sometimes be avoided, and the right corrective action taken instead—in this case, it was reclaiming the solvent. Making the right solvent-reclaiming decision. The Gulf Coast refinery TGTU shown in Fig. 4 is a conventional scheme using 34 wt% MDEA solvent. It treats tail gas having 1.7% H2S and 3.4% CO2 and the contactor is packed with 20 ft of structured packing. TGTUs are normally run on a separate amine circuit from the rest of the refinery to avoid problems caused by HSS-laden solvents. In this case, the TGTU used the refinery amine system. Despite the HSS analysis shown in Fig. 5, the unit was treating the tail gas to a remarkably low 3 ppmv H2S. A mass-transfer rate-based simulation of this system, including the full solvent composition per the analysis, predicted 2.3 ppmv H2S leak, in notable agreement with measured performance. The solvent was quite contaminated—0.8115 wt% HSSs. Plant personnel were considering reclaiming, but before making that recommendation, they ran several mass transfer rate-based simulations to determine if TGTU treating would be affected. Fig. 6 shows that, with increasing degrees of reclaiming, the TGTU would rapidly lose its ability to treat to really low H2S residuals. Although not shown, reclaiming was simulated to have a neg-

LNG DEVELOPMENTS ligible effect on CO2 slip, which would remain at 65%. The reason for such outstanding H2S treating is the HSS’s effect on solvent regeneration—they are acting as stripping promoters, reducing the solvent lean loadings of H2S and CO2 by a factor of between 10 and 100! This translates into lower H2S leak. If thorough reclaiming had been done without first trying to assess its effect on treating, the TGTU was predicted to slip nearly 20 times as much H2S to vent—well above the permit level. Using a mass transfer rate-based simulation tool with HSS capabilities prevented a potentially catastrophic outcome. No reclaiming was done in this case. A good place to start the reclaiming decision-making process is an assessment using a process simulation tool that has high accuracy and reliability. Mass and heat transfer rate-based simulations meet these criteria. One must be able to model the actual system under study, not just the detailed solution chemistry but also the mass-transfer behavior of the real column internals being used. Accurate regenerator modeling is crucial because this is where HSSs and stripping promoters have their real effect, so one cannot just assign values to acid-gas loadings in the lean solvent. Bulk CO2 removal with MDEA. Knowledge grows and technology advances, so what does one do if double checking an original design late in the construction phase shows the design is inadequate? A plant for treating 9.5% CO2 in a methane stream with 50 wt% generic MDEA to a target level of 0.5% was initially designed according to a commercial, reaction-modified equilibrium-stage-based simulator. This simulator suggested that 22 actual trays would be adequate. The treated gas was to be blended with other streams to meet pipeline specification of 2% CO2. Equipment was being installed and the plant was scheduled for startup when the solvent vendor was asked to validate the MDEA design. Using a mass transfer rate-based simulator showed the plant could not meet even the 2% CO2 specification required for the final blended gas, much less the 0.5% CO2 target for the treated gas. Indeed, 50 trays were needed to reach 0.5% CO2 in the outlet gas using MDEA! This was certainly not what the engineering team expected, and they were left scrambling for a solution. Fortunately, the initial gas rate and its CO2 content were expected to be lower than in the design, and another low CO2 gas stream was available for blending. As a precaution, contactor weir heights were raised from 2 in. to 5 in. The original design tool suggested that at design conditions the 2-in. and 5-in. weirs would produce gas with 0.68% and 0.20% CO 2, respectively. The mass transfer rate-based tool predicted 2.08% and 1.72% CO2. It’s not known which was correct since the plant never operated at design rates with generic MDEA. However, the initial operating data (taken at 6.4 MMscfd vs. 10 MMscfd with 7.95% CO2 vs. 9.5% CO2) validated the mass transfer rate-based simulation that predicted 0.7% CO2 vs. 0.8% measured in the plant. After operating for two years with the solvent circulation pump’s capacity limiting processing to 9 MMscfd, the outlet gas was measured at 1.7% CO2 compared with 1.34% CO2 by mass transfer rate-based simulation. Under no circumstances was anything like 0.5% CO2 ever produced with generic MDEA. Eventually, the situation took on greater urgency when corrosion in another unit caused the source of low-CO2 gas to be shut off. Without blend-gas to dilute the CO2, the facility was forced to cut production. The consequences of the poor original design were mitigated in part by a last-minute tray modification, and by the fact that the Select 162 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS 47

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LNG DEVELOPMENTS actual gas flow and composition when taken together amounted to over 30% lower load than the design was supposed to accommodate. After two years of operation, when the original design conditions needed to be met, the consequence of using an equilibrium-stage-centered model for this application came to a head. A sensible solution was a solvent change-out to a specialty amine. Fortunately, the availability of a mass transfer rate-based simulation tool allowed the operators of this facility to anticipate and plan for corrective action well in advance. With a mass transfer rate-based simulation tool, this wouldn’t have happened—conversion to a specialty solvent could have been avoided.

Italian design A masterpiece

Summary. Mass transfer rate-based simulation has been used

with great success for 25 years in the design and analysis of highpurity, azeotropic, extractive, catalytically reactive, three-phase distillations, and in gas treating with amines. Mass transfer rate-based models are highly detailed and completely predictive. They require the user to provide details of tray type, weir height and length; the number of passes; and packing types by brand name, size and material. They require parameters that are physically meaningful and which can be measured. Such details are necessary for mass transfer rate calculations, not just for estimating flooding and pressure drop. Theoretical stages, efficiencies, HETPs and ideal-stage residence times never come up in mass transfer rate-based simulation. The only input data is information that can be measured or read from a drawing. Practitioners can be confident with mass transfer rate-based simulation since they are in heat-exchanger design software. The cases presented are real-world, and show the power of methodology and the benefits that engineering and operating personnel can reap by using mass transfer rate-based simulation to tackle the very problems once shelved as “can’t-be-solved.” HP 1 2

LITERATURE CITED Nagpal, S., “Designing a selective MDEA tail-gas treating unit,” Hydrocarbon Processing, pp. 43–48, January 2010. Weiland, R. H., “Acid-gas enrichment—maximizing selectivity,” 58th Laurance Reid Gas Conditioning Conference, Norman, Oklahoma, February, 2008. Weiland, R. H., N. A. Hatcher, and J. L. Nava, “Tray hydraulic operating regimes and selectivity,” Petroleum Technology Quarterly Supplement, Gas, pp. 37–39, 2010. ACKNOWLEDGMENT All photos courtesy of Sulzer Chemtech.

Ralph Weiland founded Optimized Gas Treating in 1992 and has been active in Canada, Australia and the US in basic and applied research in gas treating since 1965. He developed the first mass transfer rate-based model for amine columns for Dow Chemical and is responsible for the development of the Windows-based ProTreat process simulation package. Dr. Weiland also spent 10 years in tray research and development with Koch-Glitsch LP, Dallas, Texas. He earned BASc, MASc and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto.

Creativity is the art we apply to achieve superior design and developments in technology. For over 70 years we have designed and supplied cost-effective technology, process plants and equipment for the oil & gas and refining industry around the world. With our expertise we provide tailormade solutions from studies and revamps to skidmounted units and complete turnkey plants. Oil & gas treatment separation, dehydration and HC dew point control, LPG and NGL recovery, sweetening, mercaptan removal Acid gas treatment & sulphur recovery acid gas enrichment, Claus, ammonia Claus, oxygen-enriched Claus, tail gas treatment, sulphur degassing Advanced process controls Special process equipment

Nate Hatcher joined Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., as vice president of Technology Development in 2009. He is responsible for making improvements and adding functionality to the ProTreat gas treating process simulator. Mr. Hatcher has spent most of his 16-year career involved with sour-gas treating and sulfur recovery, first in design and startup and later in plant troubleshooting, technical support and process simulation development. He is a member of the Amine Best Practices Group and serves on the Laurance Reid Gas Conditioning Conference advisory board. Mr. Hatcher received a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Kansas.

SIIRTEC NIGI Engineering Contractors Via Algardi, 2 – 20148, Milan (Italy) Tel: +39-0239223.1 – Fax: +39-0239223.010 – Web: www.sini.it Contact: marketing@sini.it

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LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

SPECIALREPORT

Improve decision-making for LNG projects via an integrated technology This approach to modeling and economics cuts through the complexity of project capital investment R. BECK, Aspen Technology, Inc., Burlington Massachusetts

xploiting new gas reserves or increasing the throughput of existing liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations involve a number of competing technical, market and economic factors. For the business decision maker, it is essential to be presented with key options and tradeoffs as to which contracts to negotiate, technologies to select, and capital investments to approve for development. The separate environments in which analysts work within an organization interfere with reaching the best decisions quickly. Processes are screened with simulation models and spreadsheet tools. Contractual, pricing and supply chain information are analyzed through financial spreadsheets. Capital costs are estimated with estimation systems while resource and timing constraints are evaluated via planning and project-management tools. Business leaders are left with the results of these different analyses that they need to weigh based on “dueling PowerPoint” presentations. A better approach can be based on the interoperability of software used during screening and front-end engineering and design (FEED) studies that enable a better decision-making framework. In particular, an innovative capability that has been introduced to the market embeds accurate economic models in the process modeling environment. This allows the process modeler who is screening options to derive accurate and comparable operating and capital costs during modeling studies. These very early economics are particularly useful in the comparison of alternatives. You can efficiently include economics (capital and operating costs) in the technical, energy and yield tradeoffs that you are considering.

Challenges. LNG producers face

numerous challenges to characterize the

capital and operating costs and risks early enough to be used making investment decisions. Greenfield production facilities are increasingly in the mega-project category, comprising gas processing facilities, liquefaction and loading. In addition to new projects; in any of these three asset areas, there could be opportunities to leverage existing facilities that will involve debottlenecking projects. Screening these projects involves complex interaction between technical and facility cost parameters weighted against commercial negotiation factors and logistical constraints, all in the context of the business goals for a project. The concepts discussed will focus on the LNG liquefaction end, but they are applicable to all major capital projects in the value chain. If a stable process can be designed, will it be cost-effective, make best use of capital, and achieve the business and revenue objectives of the project? To answer these questions confidently and rapidly, it is possible to use powerful technical models, link them to economic ones, rapidly screen alternatives, and further link them to Excel “front ends” that can give broader access to the operation of models beyond the realm of the model experts.

Fig. 1. In particular, the last three steps are improved through the integration of simulation models and economic evaluation systems. Process and energy optimization.

The chemical process simulation model is a key tool in designing LNG facilities, on both the liquefaction and regasification sides. While, frequently, process engineers only model portions of a proposed process for schedule or effort expediency, there are many advantages to building the complete model. Rigorous models can be built much more quickly and efficiently than organizations often realize.2 Some recent advances in simulation modeling include energy integration analysis (that enable system-wide balancing and optimization of energy sources and uses), dynamics integration with steady-state models to simplify the development and analysis of process dynamics, and the addition of reporting tools to account for carbon emissions. All of these developments mean that the process engineer can rapidly evaluate several alternatives and optimize for yield, Selected process strategy

Early concept workflow. Since

early process screening usually involves small teams, automating this workflow has not received the attention that the detailed design workflow (usually involving large teams) has. However, integrating this workflow, to remove the need for data re-entry and copying, is valuable in enabling the process screener to look at more alternatives in hopes of arriving at the optimal choice. The typical workflow resembles the simplified one shown in

Initial PFD development

Mass and energy balance

Equipment sizing/operating limits

Process evaluation FIG. 1

Early screening workflow.1

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energy cost and use, and carbon emissions. By incorporating dynamics, the model becomes an invaluable tool for understanding and improving startup conditions and avoiding instabilities. As an example, Osaka Gas was able to apply dynamic modeling to understand and solve LNG fractionation tower instabilities, resulting in preconstruction design revamps that increased process efficiency and reduced production costs by $3 million per year.3 By integrating heat-exchanger rating models with the general process simulators, the heat-exchanger aspect of an LNG facility, usually the dominant one in terms of the energy balance of the process, can be analyzed with much greater accuracy during screening studies. ConocoPhillips reports that it has been able to achieve optimized design and improved operations through its accurate modeling of brazed aluminum heat exchangers within the simulation model and heat exchanger model environment, using each tool to its best advantage.4 Model institutionalization at the business level. Once a conceptual

design is complete, the process model itself should be a valuable asset that has lasting benefit, both for the startup and operation of the facility, and perhaps more subtly, for follow on capital investment decisions around process improvement, commercial negotiations, debottlenecking and expansion.

FIG. 2

Economic analysis with a simulation model.

FIG. 3

Traditional approach.

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Using an Excel “modeling executive” is a proven way to make technical models of LNG assets available for a range of purposes. This involves running the model in the background, while using the familiar Excel interface as the way that the casual user can enter the scenario conditions and otherwise interact with the model. In this way, business analysts and process engineers can run scenarios involving debottlenecking, energy use, pricing and other criteria. BP is an example of an organization that has implemented such an Excel interface layer to broaden the availability of models of existing assets for decision-making, both at a technical level for operating assets and at a business level for operating strategies, enabling revenue optimization.5 Typical debottlenecking project. An existing LNG plant has usually

been modeled fairly completely by at least steady-state models during the design, and, sometimes, dynamic models are added during startup stage. When debottlenecking activities are studied, often a different team is involved that may have a learning curve in reusing these existing models or that may be unfamiliar with the model details. This is where a spreadsheet interface can be invaluable to enable a screening team to access a model and use it for alternatives evaluation, without concerning themselves with the details of model creation. Incorporating relative economics in the decision-making process.

Estimators have long used unique rigorous “engineer-in-a-box” class of estimating software tools for the conceptual estimating of hydrocarbon facilities, both greenfield plant sites, as well as brownfield upgrades and debottlenecking projects. These tools can be calibrated to achieve better than 20% accuracy time after time. For instance, ConocoPhillips reports moving to this

FIG. 4

approach between 2004 and 2006 and, during that timeframe, reducing the % variance of their estimates from actual at a starting point of greater than 35% variance to less than 15% variance.6 But these tools are too specialized and complicated, in their native form, for the process engineer to use. The innovation required to embed this powerful tool within the process simulation environment is fourfold. First, some of the power of the estimating tools (which enables the estimators to calibrate the tools) must be hidden so that the process engineers are not required to see that complexity. Second, engineering rules need to be incorporated in the interfacing activity to map the simulation blocks to equipment types that can be estimated, and to size equipment and bulks based on the model’s heat and material balance. Third, operating cost items—such as feed costs, utility costs, and product pricing—need to be captured from the model. And finally, fourth, the tool is automated to run “behind the curtains” so that, by simply pushing a button, the process engineer accesses the estimation cost engine. All of this workflow and engineering rules innovation has been accomplished over the past three years by our organization. This tool has been effectively adopted and used by several enterprises to achieve economically superior process designs and improved capital predictability. Kuwait Oil Company has used this integrated economics approach to rapidly evaluate two dramatically different options for a gasdehydration unit.7 Using this approach, the counter-intuitive alternative, complete unit replacement, proved to be an economically superior option, saving 50% of the total costs, for a savings on that project of almost $20 million. The key to achieving this was the ability to generate both capital and operating costs so that lifecycle business impacts of design alternatives could be measured fully.

Integrated, innovative approach.

LNG DEVELOPMENTS Technip has used the integrated economics capability to improve its ability to make bidding decisions and to study tradeoffs in selecting designs.8 Technip reports an ability to increase design flexibility, achieve maximum energy efficiency and optimize designs from a cost point of view. It employed this integrated approach on designs for Technip proprietary technology for gas processing. It is able to achieve economically superior designs and detailed proposals in one-tenth of the former time. Technip now incorporates training in using integrated economics during early conceptual design as a core competency for its North American process engineers. Business modeling. Once the eco-

nomics have been derived, the resulting capital and operating forecasts can be easily brought into a master spreadsheet, where the business factors such as product transportation costs, contract values, royalty schedules, reserves over time, and the like can be taken into account. Several major LNG producers are currently considering this approach to improve capital decision-making. Design standardization. One of the characteristics of LNG processing plants is the repeatable nature of the designs. Largescale LNG liquefaction plants usually involve multiple identical process trains, and LNG facilities bear many similarities from a process point of view. This can be taken advantage of to create libraries of reusable design elements, both from the process viewpoint and from the economic modeling viewpoint. This general approach has been described quite clearly by one organization, DSM, which gained a significant competitive advantage in reducing time to market for new processes.2 DSM broke down commonly reused processes into libraries of “design fragments” that were built up into simulation models and the associated economic models. Samsung Heavy Industries proposed such a library approach for the rapid FEED design of LNG floating production storage offshore (FPSO) topsides.9 Its goal, during pre-FEED, is to rapidly estimate the total cost, weight and layout of an LNG FPSO facility. In their analysis of the repeatable design problem, Samsung concluded that the process units could be divided into those that are common across all LNG projects and those that vary with the type of source gas being processed. In the case

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SPECIALREPORT

LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENTS

of Samsung, a benefit of this approach is to enable the company to begin to penetrate the FEED phase of these projects, from its traditional strengths in the areas of fabrication and detailed design. Next steps. The innovations described

provide tremendous opportunity to rethink the way that early process design is conducted. The next areas of innovation will most likely involve applying the new usability paradigms, common to mobile devices and the web, to the technical engineering modeling domain. Social media tools will present additional opportunities for sharing of best-practice modeling ideas within organizations and, with the appropriate intellectual property protections, across them. Summary. With the fast pace and

dynamic nature of the LNG marketplace, the pressure to make capital decisions better and faster is increasing. The technical groups supporting these decision-making processes are hard-pressed to keep up. One of the reasons is the highly manual process by which information is distributed between groups and the fragmented

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

way in which the different engineering and economics aspects of the problem are often tackled. Fig. 3 indicates the typical, traditional approach that is taken, highlighting the ad hoc nature of the communications and data handoffs between the groups. What we have described in this article are a number of innovations that change the game in terms of the ability to make these decisions better and faster. By incorporating equipment sizing, energy analysis and rigorous economic modeling within the world of the process modeler, the technical organizations can respond more quickly and with better choices and financially superior designs. Fig. 4 provides a simplified summary view of the approach that we have been discussing. Measureable benefits as described by Kuwait Oil, Osaka Gas and others in the examples above are just the tip of the iceberg. The potential payoff of adopting of these new approaches is high. HP 1

BIBLIOGRAPHY Eijkenboom, M., “Developing Scope for Proposed Processes by Integrating Aspen Economics with Aspen Plus,” May 2011. Eijkenboom, M., “Achieve Better Process Designs with Integrated Economics,” Public

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Webinar Broadcast, October 2010, http:// www.aspentech.com/_ThreeColumnLayout. aspx?pageid=2147488398. Emi, H., “Solving Unit Instability Problems in LNG Separation Through Use of Aspen HYSYS Dynamics,” Aspen Japan User Meeting, Tokyo, June 2008. Evan, M. and M. Gentry, “Optimizing LNG Plant Design and Operations with Aspen HYSYS and Aspen MUSE,” AspenTech User Conference, May 2009. Stewart, Ramidial and Hudson, “Asset Optimization at BP Trinidad,” AspenTech User Conference, May 2009. Whiteside, J., “Use of Historical Data to improve Conceptual estimates with Aspen ACCE Estimating System,” AspenTech User Conference, June 2006. Madhusudana, V., “Project Optimization at Conceptual Level by Using Aspen HYSYS Tools,” AspenTech Global Conference, May 2011. Tipton, E., “Best Practices for Process and Collaborative Engineering,” Aspen Engineering Public Seminar, Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela, April 2010. Hwang, J., et. al., “Application of an Integrated FEED Process Engineering Solution to Generic LNG FPSO Topside,” ISOPE, 2009.

Ron Beck is a member of the engineering products group at Aspen Technology in Burlington, Massachusetts. His experience is in introduction and implementation of systems for design and management of process plants globally. Mr. Beck holds a BA degree in science from Princeton University.

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MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

BONUSREPORT

Run your pumps like a pro Follow these tips to boost efficiency and avoid failures D. KERNAN, ITT Monitoring and Control Group, Seneca Falls, New York

ue to the myriad engineering, logistical and safety challenges involved in a refining operation, American Petroleum Institute (API) over hung (OH) style pumps are often overlooked as a potential source of improved productivity—or as a cause of catastrophic failure, if not operated properly. Refinery managers, maintenance engineers and production supervisors should adhere to best practices and understand the operational do’s and don’ts for employing pumps properly in refining applications. Paying heed to pump performance can boost operational efficiency, and avoid failures that reduce production or cause catastrophic shutdowns.

Operating to the right of BEP, a condition known as “runout,” means that the flowrate is higher than the pump was designed to maintain. The high flow increases the exit velocity of fluid leaving the pump, thus creating a low-pressure area inside the pump. Operating to the left of BEP occurs when the discharge flow is restricted, causing fluid to recirculate within the pump, also creating a low-pressure area, which can lead to increased radical loading and low-flow cavitation. In either case, the creation of imbalanced pressure increases the radial loads on the impeller, which can cause shaft deflec-

Pump fundamentals and monitoring. One example of

a catastrophe occurred recently at a North American refinery that produces about 70,000 barrels per day (bpd). A fire broke out at the bottom of a vacuum tower, forcing a three-day shut down that cost $1.5 million in damages and lost production time. An investigation quickly identified a failed pump as the cause. This is a common occurrence, if pumps are not operated and maintained properly. On average, one out of every 1,000 pumps with a failedmechanical seal leads to a fire. Due to the seriousness and cost of such failures, maintenance engineers and production supervisors need to understand the operation of a centrifugal pump and how to operate it efficiently. A centrifugal pump is rotating machine comprised of six main parts that work together to keep the pump operating properly (Fig. 1). They include an impeller, pump casing, bearings, bearing frame, shaft and a mechanical seal (Fig. 2). The operation principle of the pump is to convert mechanical energy to pressure. In operation, a rotating impeller accelerates a liquid and as the area of the pump casing expands, the velocity of the fluid is converted to pressure. As a result, pressurized fluid exits the pump discharge. Though the performance of API pumps has improved with enhancements to design and materials, the basic structure has changed little in decades. BEP and pump performance. Best efficiency point (BEP), the flowrate where a pump has its highest efficiency, is a key factor in pump performance. Few pumps operate at their exact BEP all of the time, because process variables in a production environment are not 100% constant. However, a pump that is properly sized for its application will maintain a flow near peak efficiency. Maintaining a flow between 80%–110% of BEP (Figs. 3 and 4) is a good range to maximize efficiency and minimize the risk of excessive wear or pump failure. When a pump operates too far off its BEP, forces inside the pump become imbalanced, which can cause parts to deflect and wear excessively.

FIG. 1

Centrifugal pump.

FIG. 2

The six main parts of a centrifugal pump.

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tion—the bending of the impeller shaft, which increases vibration of the pump. The vibration and imbalance forces can create stress on the pump’s internal components, most likely to be seen

first in the bearings and/or mechanical seals, the two parts of a centrifugal pump that fail most often. Cavitation and net positive suction head. Cavitation is

TDH

BEP

Efﬁciency

80%

BEP

Low pressure area

another serious problem caused by the lack of adequate net positive suction head (NPSH), the pressure provided at the suction of the pump, less the fluids vapor pressure. When fluid pressure on the trailing side of the impeller blade (opposite the pump intake) falls below the vaporization point of the fluid, vapor bubbles begin to form. When these vapor bubbles reach an area of high pressure inside the pump, they can collapse violently—causing sudden, uneven axial and radial loading on the impeller. This, in turn, can cause shaft deflection that is random in direction and often severe in magnitude. While it is easy to reccomend run your pumps at the BEP with adequate NPSH, operation within the oil and gas markets, be it upstream to downstream, is a dynamic process. Process change production rate change, but typically the hundreds, if not thousands, of pumps to support these process do not change and this can lead to improper operations. It is only when a robust condition monitoring program in combination with operations support, can reliable and efficient pump operation be achieved. Managing pump performance in a refinery. In a

complex refining operation, where the focus is on production, manually monitoring the performance and operation of API pumps is seldom the top priority. A disconnect also often exists between the maintenance and operations functions, which prevents managers from seeing the complete picture of equipment performance. A continous condition monitoring program that involves both maintenance and operations can help refining operations to address both challenges. The North American

Radial force FIG. 3

Centrifugal pump characteristics running below recommended minimum flow.

TDH

Efﬁciency

BEP

Efﬁciency

Preferred operating range 110%

80%

BEP

110%

BEP

Radial force

Low pressure area

FIG. 4

Centrifugal pump characteristics “running-out.”

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FIG. 5

Centrifugal pump characteristics running at preferred operating range.

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY refinery faced with the $1.5 million pump failure is a case in point. A root-cause analysis revealed that the pump’s mechanical seal caused the fire—and a review of maintenance records showed numerous repairs and parts replacements consistant with off-BEP pump operations in the weeks and months leading up to the fire. Subsequent to the disaster, the refinery installed a continuous monitoring system in 2009. The system plays a key role in keeping both the operational and maintenance sides of the refinery up to speed on pump performance and machine health. It monitors temperatures, vibrations, pressure and power to ensure that pumps are operating properly, and also warns of trouble before it occurs. The monitoring data is distributed to both the control room and a to web-based condition monitoring platform. Simple, easy to understand key performance indicators (KPIs) such as suction pressure, vibration and power data allow any operator to monitor pump operations without special training. When more advanced diagnostics are neccessary, such as vibration spectrums and timewave forms, the reliability and maintence teams can access the web-based condition monitoring system from any web-enabled device. The system integrates maintenance and operational data in a single dashboard, improving operational efficiency and reducing the need for “walk-around” manual monitoring. In nearly two years since the system was installed, the refinery has required no unplanned maintenance on its pumps. While refinery managers, maintenance engineers and production supervisors face continual challenges to maintaining production, they can’t lose sight of proper pump operation and maintenance. Both play a key role in preventing pump failures.

BONUSREPORT

■ A continuous condition monitoring

system plays a key role in keeping both the operational and maintenance sides of the refinery up to speed on pump performance and machine health. It monitors temperatures, vibrations, pressure and power to ensure that pumps are operating properly, and also warns of trouble before it occurs. Condition monitoring systems need to support both machine status and process data to answer why pumps are about to fail, not just when and where. By implementing these best practices, operators can run their pumps like the pros, while boosting production and reducing risk at the same time. HP

Dan Kernan is the manager at ITT Monitoring and Control. He earned a BS degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester and has spent the last decade integrating technologies such as power electronics, embedded sensors and wireless systems with rotating equipment to improve equipment reliability and reduce energy. Mr. Kernan and his team have helped numerous customers in the oil and gas industry implement pumping systems and pump control solutions. He holds three patents or patents pending in technology related to improving pump reliability.

Buzau - ROMANIA phone: +40 238 725 500 www.betabuzau.ro

Select 166 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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PROCESS INSIGHT Optimizing CO2 Capture, Dehydration and Compression Facilities The removal of CO2 by liquid absorbents is widely implemented in the field of gas processing, chemical production, and coal gasification. Many power plants are looking at post-combustion CO2 recovery to meet environmental regulations and to produce CO2 for enhanced oil recovery applications. The figure below illustrates actual data of fuel consumption in 2005 and an estimate of energy demand for various fuels from 2010 to 2030. The world energy demand will likely increase at rates of 10–15% every 10 years. This increase could raise the CO2 emissions by about 50% by 2030 as compared with the current level of CO2 emissions. The industrial countries (North America, Western Europe and OECD Pacific) contribute to this jump in emissions by 70% compared to the rest of the world, and more than 60% of these emissions will come from power generation and industrial sectors.

formulated solvent without implementing any split flow configurations. This is much less than the reported steam usage for the MEA solvent. The design of a facility to capture 90% of the CO2 from the flue gas of a coal fired power plant is based on the specified flue gas conditions, CO2 product specifications, and constraints. Using the ProMax® process simulation software from Bryan Research & Engineering, CO2 capture units can be designed and optimized for the required CO2 recovery using a variety of amine solvents. The following figure represents a simplified process flow diagram for the proposed CO2 Capture Plant.

Despite the strong recommendations from certain governments, there are very few actual investments in CO2 capture facilities geared toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions mainly because of the high cost of CO2 recovery from flue gas. CO2 capture costs can be minimized, however, by designing an energy efficient gas absorption process. Based on the findings of recent conceptual engineering studies, HTC Purenergy estimated the production cost to be US$ 49/ton CO2 (US$ 54/ tonne CO2) for 90% CO2 recovery of 4 mole% CO2 content in the flue gas of NGCC power plants. A separate study showed the cost for 90% CO2 recovery of 12 mole% CO2 from a coal fired power plant to be US$ 30/ton CO2 (US$ 33/tonne CO2). The cost of CO2 recovery from coal power plant flue gas is substantially less than that of NGCC power plant flue gas due to the higher CO2 content in the feed. The energy efficiency of a CO2 capture plant depends primarily on the performance of the solvent and optimization of the plant. In traditional flue gas plant designs, MEA was the primary solvent and was limited to 20 wt% to minimize equipment corrosion. Recent developments in controlling corrosion and degradation has allowed an increase in the solvent concentration to about 30 wt% thus decreasing the required circulation and subsequent steam demand. A recent DOE study shows the steam consumption for an existing CO2 plant using 18 wt% MEA (Kerr McGee Process) is 3.45 lb of steam per lb of CO2 for amine regeneration. A modern process that uses 30 wt% MEA is expected to use 1.67 lb of steam per lb of CO2 for amine regeneration. The HTC formulated solvent is a proprietary blend of amines and has a lower steam usage than the conventional MEA solvent. Based on the material and energy balances for the plant designed in the recent study, the reboiler steam consumption is estimated at about 1.47 lb steam/lb CO2 using the proposed

The table below presents the main findings for CO2 capture from the coal fired power plant and the NGCC power plant, each designed to produce about 3307 ton per day (3,000 TPD metric). To produce the same capacity of CO2, only one train with smaller column diameters is required in the case of the coal power plant and two trains with larger column diameters are required in the NGCC Power Plant case. This is mainly due to processing a larger flue gas with lower CO2 content in the NGCC power plant. Consequently, a substantial reduction in the capital and production cost was reported for the coal fired power plant CO2 recovery facility.

For more information about this study, see the full article at www.bre.com/support/technical-articles/gas-treating.aspx.

Bryan Research & Engineering, Inc. P.O. Box 4747 • Bryan, Texas USA • 77805 979-776-5220 • www.bre.com • sales@bre.com Select 113 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

BONUSREPORT

Seal off costly refinery leaks Older refinery seeks better method to be leak-free J. PATERSON, Sealing Corp., North Hollywood, California

eaks are a huge problem for the oil industry. Even small leaks from pipes, valves, boilers, heat exchangers, etc., reduce efficiency and eat away at profits. Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company, PT Pertamina, suffered from leak problems in aging refinery and petrochemical complexes. This case history explores how this operating company solved its sealing problems.

Aging Asian downstream complex. PT Pertamina was

established in 1957. This national oil company (NOC) engages in both upstream and downstream activities. Upstream, PT Pertamina is active in oil, gas and geothermal exploration and production. For the downstream, this NOC refines, ships and markets transportation fuels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals and lube oil. The company operates six refineries with a combined capacity of 1.046 million bbls. Two of the refineries are integrated with petrochemical plants that produce purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and paraxylene (PX). Five other complexes produce LPG, and there are two LNG plants with a combined 35,000 tpy incapacity. Several of the refineries are older and predate Indonesia’s independence and the establishment of Pertamina. The Balikpapan refinery was established by Shell Transport and Trading in 1894. The original facility was destroyed during WWII, rebuilt in 1950 and expanded in 1983. The 2.5-km2 facility has two sub-units, which processes up to 260,000 bpd and produce fuels—aviation turbine fuel (AVTUR), aviation gas (AVGAS), kerosine, automotive diesel oil (ADO), industrial diesel oil (IDO), marine fuel oil (MFO) and special high-octane fuels along with LPG, paraffin, naphtha and low-sulfur waxy residue (LSWR). Balikpapan I has two refinery units producing naphtha, kerosine, gasoline and diesel and a high-vacuum unit producing paraffin-oil distillate. Balikpapan II opened in 1983, supplies AVTUR, AVGAS, kerosine, ADO, IDO, MFO and special high-octane fuels.

FIG. 1

Balikpupan refinery had major leakage issues.

Seal problems. While the Balikpapan refinery has a rich history, aging seals can add up to major leakage issues. The spiralwound seal designs in use at the refinery have been around about as long as the original Balikpapan refinery (1950s); unfortunately, these aging seals were not up to meeting modern demands. “The spiral wound gaskets would have a lifetime of about six to 12 months before they would start leaking,” says David Hakim, a representative of PT Egamekinka Pratama, a firm in Jakarta that specializes in pump engineering, sealing devices and piping systems for the petroleum industry. “Then they would have to use online sealing—a frequent and expensive occurrence.” Better sealing gasket. Looking for ways to reduce mainte-

nance and production costs caused by the leaks and environmental problems from spills, sealing consultants proposed replacing the spiral-wound gaskets with a combination of a live-loading system and steel-trap gaskets. The live-loading system consists of boltdisk springs that maintain the desired pressure despite mechanical shock, pressure surges or thermal expansion and contraction. The steel-trap design maintains a seal on high-pressure, high-temperature lines, eliminating leaks and lowering maintenance costs. This action would improve reliability of the seals and avoid replacing gaskets every six months or engaging in online repairs. The Balikpapan refinery could use this approach to achieve three or more years of leak-free operations. Selecting the right sealing solution. Choosing the right

seal requires analyzing a combination of factors including the materials making up the joint to be sealed, operating temperature range, pressure class required and the processing characteristics such as pH of the materials that the seal is designed to keep in or out. One other factor to consider when looking at the temperature is whether it is constant, or if the equipment is frequently cycling thus causing

FIG. 2

Evidence of leaks indicate failure of sealing gasket on this refinery unit. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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BONUSREPORT

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

flange bolts to loosen over time. For high-pressure applications in a refinery, maintenance crews have three basic options: spiral wound, camprofile (or kammprofile) or steel-trap seals. Spiral-wound seals have been around for nearly a century and have justifiably earned a stable position in the maintenance marketplace. Consisting of alternate layers of a filler (typically graphite) and a metal (generally high carbon or stainless steel) wound in a spiral, they are more expensive than the sheet gaskets. But they do not need as high of bolt loading since some of the flange surface is in contact with the more compressible filler. While lower, the bolt load is still significant and can lead to warping and other problems associated with high bolt loads. In addition, unless handled with care, these gaskets can come apart during installation. Camprofile. Like spiral wound, camprofile gaskets use metal to support the softer sealing material. The camprofile gaskets, however, use a solid metal core surrounded by two layers of sealing material. The surface of the metal core has a series of concentric grooves to hold the sealing material in place. Camprofile gaskets can provide two significant advantages over spiral wound design. First, the metal support consists of a single piece rather than a thin wound layer, which can unravel. Second, the sealing material completely covers the surface of the metal ridges. Ideally, even when the seal is compressed, the metal ridges do not come in contact with the flange surfaces. Unfortunately, real-world plant operating conditions are less than ideal, which brings up the limitations for this gasket-type design. The compressibility is limited to the thickness of the sealant layer as it passes over the highest point of the ridges, rather than the full thickness of the sealant. Any further compression must come from the elasticity of the metal. As a result, campro-

FIG. 3

Workers installing sealing gasket at the refinery.

Often referred to as a compression gauge gasket.

Most of the clamping force is on the metal plate, not on the sealing element.

Not a real compression seal.

FIG. 4

Spiral-wound gaskets have several disadvantages since a real compression seal is not possible.

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

file gaskets still require a higher clamping force than if the full thickness of the sealant can be compressed. In addition, since the metal backing is rigid, vibration or water hammer eventually leads to destruction of the soft graphite fibers. In severe services, this gasket design can cause the metal ridges themselves to break through and damage the flange surface. Steel-traps seal design. To address these shortfalls, steel-trap gaskets incorporate technology originally developed for use on fighter aircraft. The seal base consists of a thin layer of convoluted stainless steel with a 0.015-in. graphite layer within the grooves on both sides. As a result, it is thinner and more flexible than either the spiral-wound or camprofile designs. This design has several advantages over the older gaskets. Since the metal backing is a single piece, it doesn’t come unwound like the spiral-wound gaskets. Most important, the flexible nature of the metal base means that the metal itself does not need to be compressed to achieve a seal. Instead, the metal acts like a spring, keeping the graphite tight against the flange. This greatly reduces the bolt load required, as well as the need for retorquing and warping of the flange. The flexibility also means that the gasket maintains its seal despite shocks or thermal cycling. Since this design is more pliable, the metal absorbs the energy of vibration and water hammer, thus preserving the service life of the gasket. While the intricacies of seal design may be fascinating, what really matters most is not the type of seal used, but how the joint performs in operation. The object is not to have the most stateof-the-art gasket, but to ensure that failures do not result in costly shutdowns, environmental or safety hazards or add to maintenance costs. The bottom line is: • 70 % of scheduled seal-replacement costs are labor related • One unplanned shutdown or a single leak far exceeds the few dollars spent on a seal. Balikpapan problems. Camprofile-type seals were installed at troublesome joints at the Balikpapan refinery in 2005. The first targets were two heat-exchanger nozzles. A self-locator gasket made of 316LSS with a graphite filler, along with flange-bolt disk springs, was selected. A series of gasket replacements on other equipment began at the refining complex. In March 2006, an 8-in. self-locating gasket was installed on a converting valve from the power plant’s generator turbine and a 20-in. seal (also 304LSS) on a check valve. The converting valve seal was still working perfectly in May 2010. The check valve gasket was reinstalled in May 2008 and remains in good condition. In 2007, a 24-in. seal was installed in the steam-line block valve and an 8-in. gasket was installed on a steam-line valve from the turbine generator. Another 24-in. steel-trap gasket was installed on turbine generator No. 5 in August 2008. All were 304LSS with graphite filler. These gaskets are still in operation and working well. In September 2010, additional gaskets were installed on a steam line and reboiler heat exchanger. Success of the gasket replacement solutions spread to other regional refiners, including Chevron Petroleum Indonesia, the country’s largest oil producer. HP John Paterson is president of Sealing Corp. of North Hollywood, California. The company manufactures a line of self-energized metal gaskets consisting of a corrugated metal carrier combined with different soft sealing inserts (e.g., flexible graphite, PTFE, mica or a combination thereof). These gaskets operate at high temperatures (200°C to 1,200°C) and high pressures (400 bar).

The companies below offer a wide variety of services and equipment to the US Gulf Coast refining, petrochemical and gas processing markets. You will find their complete listings in the 2011 Gulf Coast Turnaround & Maintenance Services Directory, published by Hydrocarbon Processing.

2011

You can contact these companies by going to www.HydrocarbonProcessing. com/RS, following the instructions on the screen and using the Reader Service numbers below. You can also access the full directory at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com on the left-hand navigation bar.

24 Hr Safety

COT-PURITECH

Infinity Maintenance Services

Reader Service 332

Reader Service 331

Reader Service 324

CURTISS WRIGHT Flow Control Company,

Mach Industrial Group

DeltaValve

Reader Service 313

A&L Valve Reader Service 334

Reader Service 307 Meriam Process Technology Access Plug Flange, Inc. Reader Service 319

CURTISS WRIGHT Flow Control Company, GROQUIP Reader Service 311

Sentinel

Altair Strickland Reader Service 303

Reader Service 325

Reader Service 314 CURTISS WRIGHT Flow Control Company, TapcoEnpro

SO.CA.P. s.r.l.

Reader Service 326

Reader Service 315

AMETEK, Calibration Instruments Reader Service 330 Diamond Refractory Services Reader Service 322

Diamond Refractory Services

Summit Industrial Reader Service 316

Atlas Copco Reader Service 305

Dunn Heat Exchangers

Team Industrial Services, Inc.

Reader Service 329

Reader Service 327

Dyna-Therm Corporation

Tiger Tower Services

Reader Service 308

Reader Service 333

Ecodyne Heat Exchangers

Turnaround Welding Services

Reader Service 309

Reader Service 317

FabEnCo, Inc.

Unifrax

Reader Service 323

Reader Service 328

G.S.D. Global Scrap & Dismantling

Voith Turbo GmbH & Co Kg

Reader Service 310

Reader Service 318

Certified Safety

Industrial Insulation Group

Wood Group Surface Pumps

Reader Service 306

Reader Service 312

Reader Service 336

Babbit Steam Specialty Co. Reader Service 320

Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services Reader Service 304

Catalyst Services, Inc. Reader Service 335

CB&I Reader Service 321

www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Omni Riverway, Houston

Is social media taking over your corporate marketing strategy? Or are you having a difficult time implementing social media into your marketing program? Marketing in the Oilfield 2011 will help you simplify your social media as well as maximize your results. We will provide practical advice on how to balance and prioritize your digital media to-do list towards achieving the most impact and return on your time and investment.

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View the agenda, see who is on the advisory board and register: www.GulfPub.com/MITO

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

BONUSREPORT

Rethink lubrication and steam issues on emergency equipment ‘Best available technology’ is a must for backup systems H. P. BLOCH, HP Staff

he March 2011 earthquake and disastrous tsunami in Japan was termed a perfect storm meeting an imperfect design. As we all know, the nuclear power facility’s emergency backup generators did not perform as expected. This event serves as an urgent reminder that designing for reliability involves location, selection, configuration, testing, maintenance and adherence to procedures without compromising safety-consciousness—just about everything. Looking back, we may have to ponder and reconsider what it means to be reliability professionals. For a certainty, we will have to re-learn that details matter! Within a day of the radiation release from the Fukushima DaiIchi plant, we received a call from a former colleague and fellow machinery engineer. Together, we discussed root-cause failure investigations in the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) and recalled that, quite often, equipment auxiliaries were involved. Fuel supplies, feeder cables, filters, governors, pump-drive steam turbines and lubrication systems are neglected, overlooked, deemphasized or taken for granted. We knew then that basic flaws were hidden in subsystems and attention to subsystems tended to “fall between the cracks.” And we knew that vulnerabilities were quite often found on the component level and needed much attention. In 2000 and 2001, relevant issues involved two different subsystems at a large nuclear power generating station in the US. Two separate bearing distress events occurred, and we, as reliability engineers, participated in determining their causes. Because industry can still learn from such events, this article reexamines and updates experiences and recommendations from 10 years ago that are still relevant today.

Oversights and bearing distress on generators. In the first instance, the US utility had called each of its two 1,200rpm diesel generators a “non-safety, twin diesel-driven emergency generator”(NSDG). To its credit, this utility pondered the potential risk of encountering similar bearing degradation on the identical safety twin diesel-driven emergency generators (“SDG”) at a sister nuclear facility. Examine the obvious and not-so-obvious. Selecting a safe, yet accessible, physical location for emergency generators and associated auxiliaries is well known. It requires no additional comment. However, other reliability risks exist if the owner-purchaser does not select the most appropriate cooling water-pump-performance curve. When process centrifugal pumps are oversized,

they will operate at less-than-optimum flow. Also, if these pumps are chosen for highest possible hydraulic efficiency, they likely will have relatively flat head-vs.-flow (H/Q) curves. This will make them susceptible to flow fluctuations and hydraulic pulsing. Pumps with flat H/Q curves are not suitable for parallel operation, and running several such pumps simultaneously may greatly increase the failure risk. Consulting effort was spent bringing this potential issue to the facility’s attention. Pump hydraulics and the plant’s operational safeguards were then scrutinized; it was considered time well spent. Generator bearings and lubricant application.

Much can be said about lubricant selection and lube application. We ascertained that bearings of the type and size used in the two NSDGs at this location were being operated in a conservative load regime. However, the oil was applied by oil rings (also called slinger rings). Note: Oil rings/slinger rings have serious limitations. These rings are usually of single-piece construction (see Fig. 1, the yellow-dotted locations). High-quality slinger rings would be configured with concentric grooves machined in the bore, and the ones at this nuclear utility site were not grooved. Moreover, high-quality slinger rings must be heat treated during the manufacturing process to maintain the long-term dimensional stability. In operation, ring out-of-roundness should not exceed 0.002 in. (0.05 mm). At this site, there were no answers to our questions on out-of-roundness; no oil ring measurements had been recorded. Steps were taken to obtain dimensional data in the near future. As an aside, concerns with oil rings are still highly valid. In July 2009, in a boiler-feed-pump bearing housing at a US alumina refinery, we measured a badly worn slinger ring with an out-ofroundness in excess of 30 times the allowable. We invite our readers to draw their own conclusions as to the risk of blindly buying from the lowest bidder, or purchasing components without linkage to a suitably detailed specification. With very few exceptions, slinger rings are not the best available technology. They rarely meet all the safety and reliability criteria of emergency equipment. Our nuclear-utility consulting file commented on lubricants. It noted that better, more tenacious and oxidation-resistant lubricants are available in the form of diester-PAO blends of synthesized hydrocarbons; a premium grade ISO-32 mineral oil will be adequate unless the oil temperature exceeds 160°F. While there was no reason to suspect that this generally satisfactory mineral oil had contributed to the damage observed on both NSDG HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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BONUSREPORT

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

bearings, the utility was reminded that oil rings will function best if the viscosity grade of the oil is no lower than ISO VG 32 and no higher than ISO VG 46. Whenever oil viscosities are too high, the rings will slip, stick or simply not perform well. They will not serve optimally when the immersion depth is too great, when the ring bore roughness is outside the acceptable range, when the shaft system is not truly horizontal, or when the earth shakes violently. Thermocouple assembly and location issues. At this

US nuclear facility, at least one previous bearing failure event was attributed to a thermocouple probe making unforeseen contact with the slinger rings. Slowing down the rings or allowing them to operate in a skewed condition was likely to have deprived the bearings of proper oil-film thickness. The installation flaw probably caused babbitt overheating and metal-to-metal contact. Aside from the obvious need for careful assembly, it was then recommended that, during a conveniently scheduled outage event, the thermocouple insertion be brought up to industry standards. Bearing manufacturers’ literature will show how thermocouples must be inserted radially. The tip of the insertion hole drilled into the bearing substrate should be only 0.025 in.–0.035 in (~0.6 mm–0.9 mm) from the journal; this will ensure that temperatures are measured where it is really of concern and will also give rapid advance warning of bearing temperature excursions. How the NSDG bearing failed in another incident. Sleeve bearings fail only due to: a) Intrusion of foreign matter or dirt b) Fatigue cracking c) Corrosion d) Electrical damage e) Inadequate lubrication. The operating history of an emergency generator is always of interest. In 2000, both the equipment owner’s and our own examinations of the failed bearing allowed ruling out items a through d, but not e. There had been oil starvation at only one end of the failed sleeve bearing, as evidenced by the smeared appearance that virtually duplicated an illustration found in Ref. 1.1 We specifically noted that the smeared appearance was not the result of misalignment between the diesel driver and generator. Assembly-related skewing of the sleeve bearing was discounted

FIG. 1

Small steam turbine with slinger rings (oil rings) at each bearing housing. (Courtesy of Elliott Co., Jeannette, Pennsylvania.)

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

since the bearing incorporated a spherically contoured outer surface. Yet, there was evidence of oil having preferentially flowed in the clearance gap toward the generator. Why did this happen? A retrofitted, non-original equipment manufacturer (OEM), fanlike blower was responsible! Beware of risk bearing cooling arrangements. The

need for forced-air cooling of an existing generator bearing bracket often deserves to be questioned. A “naturally cooled,” i.e., flooded by ambient air, well-designed bearing typically accepts specific loads as high as 2.5 Mpa (362 psi). Assuming a projected bearing area of approximately 100 in.2 and a rotor weight below 30,000 lb on this 200 mm (8 in.), 1,200-rpm shaft system, we believed the bearing would not have required supplementary fan-produced cooling. The add-on fan had created a rather typical managementof-change problem. Persons or entities unnamed had decided to design and install a fan-style blower on the generator shaft. Quite aside from our belief that this version of supplementary air cooling was probably removing little (if any) additional heat, we pointed out other concerns. Realizing that the impeller air-flow pattern could create a slight vacuum between the bearing and driver-side labyrinth, the designer or retrofit provider had opted to bleed off some of the high-velocity air. The air was re-injected between the bearing and driver-side end cap. It created a slightly higher air pressure region that reduced oil flow in the generator’s bearing clearance gap closest to the coupling. The pressure difference caused bearing damage due to oil starvation at this end. Remember: Skilled failure analysts look for deviations from the norm. In this instance, the best course of action would have been to question the need for supplementary cooling. The utility was asked to compare its bearing housing layout to otherwise similar, yet blower-less “uncooled” installations. After ascertaining that most installations reported good success without using an add-on fan, the facility was encouraged to simply get rid of the fan. Of course, liberal venting provisions are needed on certain bearing housings. Also, predictive maintenance monitoring is desirable to verify that the operating temperatures (measured on the housing) stay in the desirable 110°F–150°F range. The client’s installation was probably similar to dozens of others. They should have been satisfied with proven standard emergency diesel-generators, albeit with generator lube application strategies that avoid slinger rings, oiler bottles and other items that no longer represent best available technology for NSDGs. Bearing distress on small steam turbines. Less than two years later, in 2001, the same client asked us to assist in pinpointing reliability flaws on small (< 1,000 kW/600 psi) steam turbines driving centrifugal pumps in intermittent service. The steam turbines were similar (although not identical) to the wellproven style or model of Fig. 1. The bearings were of the traditional babbitted-sleeve type, and a well-known ISO Grade 46 R&O lubricant was used in each of the two bearing housings. As shown in Fig. 1, each bearing location had two oil rings that fed the lubricant into the load-carrying region. But, regrettably, the particular steam-turbine model installed at the client’s facility had a history of bearing defects. Prior bearing failure events pointed to lubricant starvation; yet, a brief analysis showed no evidence of overload damage. At least one previous failure was thought to be triggered by a moderate amount of lube-oil contamination. The probable source of this

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY contamination was a paste-type joint sealant that had evidently seeped into the sump. Beware of deviations from normal design. When the failed bearings were closely inspected, we found noteworthy deviations from customary bearing design: • Projected load on each bearing of the 192-lb turbine rotor was only approximately 8 psi. (A load between 80 psi and 200 psi represents standard practice.) • Oil rings were unusually narrow and did not incorporate the customary tapered cross-sectional profile. • Oil ring-to-shaft diameter ratio was 2.22. Diameter ratios of 1.5 to 2 represent standard design practice, and excessive ratios are likely “pushing the envelope.” • Bearing diametral clearances ranged from 0.009 in. to 0.011 in., with 0.014 in. the apparent condemnation limit set by the steam turbine manufacturer. We noted that customarily recommended clearance values in industry ranged from 0.005 in. to 0.0065 in. Failure events analyzed. There was reason to believe that these particular machines incorporated more than one marginal design feature and ran “at the edge.” Minor deviations of several critical parameters were probably pushing bearing performance into the distress zone. The critical parameters for this particular turbine type are listed: • Turbine shaft alignment • Water contamination of the lube oil • Oil viscosity, affected also by ambient and cooling water temperature • Rotor unbalance • Degree of ring eccentricity • Degree of ring immersion, possibly affected by marginally different pressures in bearing housing vs. in sight glass • Ring width and (lack of ) tapered cross-section • Ring bore roughness (high RMS-value) • Lack of grooving on the ring bore diameter. Grooved rings have demonstrated up to four times the oil feed capability of otherwise identical, non-grooved oil rings. It would be of interest to refer back to some of these critical parameters and accept two major premises to which experienced troubleshooters subscribe: Premise 1. Under ideal conditions, a single deviation or nearthe-limit-of-tolerance measurement would not risk total failure. Manufacturers test with near-ideal conditions Premise 2. When several deviations or limiting values combine, failure risks increase exponentially. Manufacturers’ shop acceptance tests do not replicate these conditions In this instance, unusually light bearing loading was thought to introduce failure risk. If, for example, on turbines with lightly loaded bearings, the turbine shaft is perfectly aligned to the pump shaft, the relatively light-weight rotor becomes unstable and the required oil wedge will not form. Indeed, simple rotor instability was observed in vibration spectra that showed substantial vibration peaks at multiples of running. Still, it would have been inappropriate to require a purposefully misaligned shaft system, since this would address the symptoms instead of the root cause. On at least one occasion water intrusion had been noted at 0.6% (6,000 ppm). While excessive but not normally destructive, this might have been too much for systems with marginal rotor stability or other flaws. Steam-turbine bearing housing protector seals (Fig. 2) might have reduced, or even prevented, water

BONUSREPORT

intrusion. These seals did not exist in 2001, but they represent a worthwhile upgrade opportunity today. In 2001, simulations by a competent engineering firm showed serious oil-ring bounce. While this particular experiment involved a somewhat oval oil ring, other rings were also observed to bounce at speeds within the turbine operating range. Wider rings, and rings with diameter ratios more in line with traditional practice, are much more likely to show this instability. Oil ring contact with the containment slots milled into the top half of the bearing was associated with another failure. Questionable contact causes temperature excursions (friction), and less oil will reach the bearings. The subject rings had square profiles; whereas, the more traditional tapered profile would have offered reduced drag and lessened the severity of contact. A trained professional will avoid sleeve bearing bores with internal oil grooves whenever side thrust from shaft misalignment could cause oil blockage.2 Notwithstanding some rare exceptions, competent reliability professionals would insist that the best defense against bearing failure is good alignment quality combined with well-designed bearings and the best possible oil application. For sleeve bearings, a circulating oil system represents best-available technology. Possible reasons for design deviations. In the US nuclear utility’s small steam turbines, the dimensional peculiarities of the bearing housing may well have represented an extrapolation of the turbine manufacturer’s past experience. Alternatively, the large sump depths and, thus, large oil-ring diameters were linked to other design particulars. In this instance, the need to clear the governor flyweight circle at the upper speed range may have prompted the manufacturer to use unusually large diameter slinger rings. To restate, many similar machines are fitted with circulating oil systems. Not using circulating oil systems on important emergency equipment is a mistake prompted by making low initial cost one’s primary concern. The blind pursuit of the much touted “lean and mean” approach is unacceptably risky. The decision to incorporate unusually large bearing clearances was probably influenced by the desire to get more oil into the bearings. Again, circulating oil systems are not only feasible, but they clearly represent the best available technology (BAT). We believe that BAT should always be used when life and safety are at stake. For a variety of reasons, equipment manufacturers often claim that “lots of these (insert name) machines are operating elsewhere and yours is the first one with such (insert words) problems.” While it would be of interest to determine precisely how troublesome bearings or steam turbines differ from others that don’t seem to suffer similar issues, it would be an unusual burden for

FIG. 2

Bearing housing protector seal for a small steam turbine. (Source: AESSEAL Inc.) HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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BONUSREPORT

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY

an owner company to establish these facts without having access to the manufacturer’s drawings and other design information. Of course, users are advised to first communicate with equipment manufacturers before they embark on user-funded redesigns. But TABLE 1. Questions to be answered by the steamturbine manufacturer (STM) 1. What objections does the STM have to increasing the projected bearing load to a value above the incredibly low value of 8 psi? 2. In what load range should the new projected bearing load value be? 3. What reasons (other than quite obviously attempting to increase the oil flow into the bearings) does the STM have to stay with the present, abnormally large diametral bearing clearances? 4. What should be the optimum configuration of the oil channels that are axially machined into the bearing bore, and do the user’s bearings presently incorporate these optimum configurations and dimensions? Should the channels be oriented differently? 5. What technical reasons does the STM offer that require the user to retain the present, extreme narrow-width oil rings? 6. What should be the most appropriate, expanded-width dimension for these rings, and should they be grooved per widely available research findings and publications? 7. Why do these rings have an essentially square cross-sectional profile and what—if anything—might argue against wider oil rings with a tapered profile so as to reduce the risk of “hang-up” that was experienced at the utility on at least two occasions? 8. What is the STM’s position with regard to a polyalpha-olefin synthesized hydrocarbon oil (ISO Grade 32) that would provide greater film strength and film thickness than mineral oils of similar viscosity? 9. What is the amount of oil flow recommended by the STM, assuming that the user should decide to implement a circulating (non-pressurized) oil system? 10. Where should this oil be introduced into the bearings? 11. If the user opted to implement items 9 and 10, should the oil rings be removed? 12. If the user were to proceed with the design of a circulating oil system, would the STM be interested in reviewing the design?

FIG. 3

Examining modern steam traps will show how they differ from old-style equipment. Ask to see the inside and understand how each part functions. (Courtesy of TLV Corp., Charlotte, North Carolina.)

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

a vigilant user will not let manufacturers get away with misinformation and selective memory. Instead, informed users make it their business to fully understand where design extrapolations and deviations from safe conventional designs led to cutting corners. There is simply no substitute for using BAT in systems, procedures and equipment in nuclear generating plants. In new installations, we should insist on not incorporating slinger rings in critically important emergency equipment. Still, consulting engineers are often asked to advise and educate clients on existing machines. The nuclear plant wanted to know more on the limitations of slinger rings and, to test the cooperation of the turbine manufacturer, it was recommended to use an approach whereby a series of appropriate questions would be asked. The manufacturer’s answers might then trigger remedial actions involving the equipment owner, turbine manufacturer and, possibly, a third-party consulting firm. If the manufacturer was either unwilling or unable to provide more appropriate bearings or bearing systems, a qualified third-party bearing manufacturer would be engaged in needed redesigns. Table 1 lists question that owners should ask a steam turbine manufacturer before remedial action and possible equipment redesign are done. Keep water out of steam. All machines must be operated in accordance with sound instructions. Of course, it may be necessary to carefully scrutinize these instructions. Realize also that some instructions may simply not be correct. Then again, while most are indeed correct, they are sometimes disregarded. Whenever we allow deviations from best operating practice or BAT, failure risk (and even calamity) increases. With very few exceptions, steam turbines can only be started after they have been warmed up and with condensate removed. Even so, sites worry about turbine warmups, and, sometimes, wasteful practices such as slow-rolling, steam bleeds or blowthrough steam are used to keep turbines at steam temperature. Warming up by these methods can, indeed, reduce the risk of turbine damage from pooling condensate slugging the turbine. Proper preheating will allow thermal growth of rotor and stator to be closely matched as high-temperature gradients of steam, and a cold turbine would risk having inadequate clearance dimensions. The circumstance to avoid is where hot steam would hit the rotor and its relatively small mass would rapidly expand thermally into the small clearance between rotor and stator parts. But if slow rolling is done, it must not be done at a too slow of speed. Oil rings (slinger rings) will malfunction at slow speeds, and bearings will then fail from oil starvation. Besides the expense of slow rolling, reliability may not be improved. However, as long as there is sufficient lubricant pooling, one alternative is to maintain a hot standby turbine, usually from backfill steam—as long as the turbine itself and both inlet and outlet steam lines are adequately drained from condensate. Hot standby can also avoid the typically expensive and high steam losses from slow rolling or steam blow-through. Again, the condensate must be thoroughly drained from the system. Another consideration is removal of both entrained and dis-entrained condensate on the inlet side of the turbine, for which steam specialists should be consulted for best practice recommendations. Keep all important factors in mind. In reviewing the draft of this article, my former colleague reminded us to see the need for a multi-step review of emergency machinery systems. Have all possible contingencies been considered? The plant

MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY designers in Japan and elsewhere think that this was done. Perhaps, different people should look again at the history of catastrophic events in other places, performance (or failure) of various backup levels, and what can be learned from these failures. We also wish to emphasize that reliability-focused purchasers must examine how systems work and how parts function. The steam inlet (supply) pipe has to be kept hot and water must be kept out. Successful drainage is ensured by exclusively using a proven, best practice approach, and selecting only the best and most suitable steam traps. The best steam traps will not backup condensate (Fig. 3). This implies that we must work with only the best and most qualified suppliers. If we had to choose from the large variety of steam traps available today, we would make it our first endeavor to understand how different trap types function, where they should be located in the piping system, and how they perform in the long term. We would obtain that information from a manufacturer whose product slate encompasses the widest possible range, and we would pay a premium for the manufacturer to be our tutor. It is certainly our firm recommendation that you never compromise on safety. Measure everything, collect data and keep good records. Understand how components function and malfunction. Buy well-engineered products from ethical, safety-conscious and reliability-focused vendors. Pay them for value, not idle promises. Pick knowledgeable manufacturers and select good tutors. Steer clear of tutors whose mindless misapplication of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;lean-and-meanâ&#x20AC;? approach and misguided anecdotes would take you back to the 19th century. Read, read, readâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and then make wise choices.3

BONUSREPORT

After becoming general manager of Dow Chemicalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Texas Division in 1967, J. M. Leathers had it right when he famously said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Safety is more profitable than unsafety.â&#x20AC;? We would like to think along similar lines: Perfection is impossible, but not using BAT on emergency equipment goes against common sense and defies all logic. Unless you apply BAT, you may have the seeds of disaster hiding in your plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emergency equipment. Use a very stringent specification on new equipment. Schedule an appropriate audit of existing emergency equipment. In your audit, insist on the degree of detail that we tried to bring to your attention in this article. HP 1 2 3

LITERATURE CITED Bloch, H. P. and F. Geitner, Machinery Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting, Figure 3-101, 3rd Edition; Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Texas, 1983. Wills, G. J., Lubrication Fundamentals, Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, New York, pg. 117, 1980. Bloch, H. P., Pump Wisdom: Problem Solving for Operators and Specialists, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2011.

Heinz P. Bloch is a consulting engineer residing in West Des Moines, Iowa (hpbloch@mchsi.com). He has held machinery-oriented staff and line positions with Exxon affiliates in the US, Italy, Spain, England, The Netherlands and Japan in a career spanning several decades prior to retirement as Exxon Chemicalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Regional Machinery Specialist for the US. Mr. Bloch is the author of 18 comprehensive texts and close to 500 other publications on machinery reliability improvement. He advises process plants worldwide on equipment uptime extension and maintenance costreduction opportunities. He is also the reliability and equipment editor for Hydrocarbon Processing. He is an ASME Life Fellow and maintains registration as a professional engineer in Texas and New Jersey.

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PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS

Prevent fouling in 1-butene storage vessels Investigation finds root cause for polymer formation in Horton spheres G. SIVALINGAM, J. D. DIVEY and S. M. VAKIL, Reliance Technology Group-Polymers, Reliance Industries Ltd., Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai, India; and N. BOKDE, Central Technical Service, Reliance Industries Ltd., Nagothane, India

or over two decades, Horton spheres, constructed of carbon steel (CS), have been used to store 1-butene. When one of these vessels was cleaned, significant amounts of polymeric material was found on the inside wall of sphere and on one of the level transmitters (LTs). In this case history, a detailed material analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry (TGA) and inductively coupled plasma—atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) techniques revealed that the polymer contained 85% combustible polybutadiene rubber, 6.7% ␣-ferric oxide (␣-Fe2O3) and 2.5% titanium oxide (TiO2.) This study also revealed that unmodified iron oxide formed in the sphere and acted as a catalyst converting 1-butene to 1,3 butadiene. Fouling problem. Butadiene being an unstable molecule with-

out any inhibitors, can readily form polybutadiene rubber. This supports the pattern of polymer formation inside the sphere (crescent shape) and located only on the bottom section of the level transmitters (LTs). The LT bottom plate, where polymer formed, was made of CS and remaining sectors were constructed from stainless steel (SS). No polymer formed on the SS portions, thus confirming the study findings. Recommendations were given to change the material of construction of the LT bottom plate to SS and to initiate measures to avoid rust formation inside the sphere. Thermoplastics. Polyethylene (PE) is the most common thermoplastic, and it is used in many varied applications. Several PE types are available, and they are classified mostly on the polymer’s density (0.88 g/cc to 0.96 g/cc) and branching. The mechanical properties of PE depend significantly on the extent of branching, crystal structure and molecular weight.1 These properties can be manipulated with various catalysts such as Ziegler, chromium and metallocene, and comonomers including 1-butene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, etc. The extent of branching and crystal structure is controlled by incorporating higher 1-alkenes. The comonomer significantly alters the molecular structure of the polymer, especially the backbone. Density and crystallinity decrease with increasing levels of comonomer incorporated to the polymer’s backbone. Among the alkenes, 1-butene is the most common comonomer used for managing density and crystallinity. Molecular weight is normally controlled by incorporating hydrogen.

The comonomer, 1-butene, is normally stored in Horton spheres before its use in the polymerization process. During storage, 1-butene should not undergo any chemical changes to avoid productivity losses in the polymerization. CS is the preferred material of construction to store 1-butene. At a PE facility, the operating company found significant amount of polymeric materials in the 1-butene storage sphere for the first time. A detailed investigation was done to identify this undesired material, to find the root-cause for the polymer formation, and to develop preventive measures and avoid future recurrence. Description of unknown polymeric material. The polymeric material obtained from the 1-butene storage sphere appeared very rubbery. A strong smell was observed from the material indicating that a significant amount of hydrocarbons occluded within the polymeric matrix. Continuous purging with air was necessary to ensure that the hydrocarbon concentration in the atmosphere was below the lower-explosive limit (LEL). Snapshots of polymeric materials obtained at different locations of the sphere are shown in Fig. 1. After removing the outer layer, the sample was nearly a transparent material with a brown tint within the matrix. There was also a strong indication of iron oxides on the surface, as well as in the polymeric matrix. Studies were needed to identify inorganic materials too. Material characterization and analysis. Functional group

analysis of the material was done using FTIR in reflectance mode with 16 scans at a few regions of the sample. The entire IR wave number range (600 cm-1 to 4,000 cm-1) was covered. The obtained

FIG. 1

Visual snapshot of polymeric material obtained at two regions in 1-butene storage sphere. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 71

PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS

FIG. 2

Heat ﬂow, mW

1.0

FTIR spectra of polymeric sample along with 30% SBR in the FTIR library. Polymeric material spectrum matches very closely with SBR rubber, indicating that it could be polybutadiene rubber. Red lines show SBR; Green lines are polymeric sample obtained.

Sample: NMD-BUT-S03A Size: 3.3700 mg Method: Cyclic

File: C:\TA\Data\DSC\NMD-BUT-S03A.001 Run date: 28-Sep-2010 12:43 Instrument: DSC Q200 V24.2 Build 107

0.5 0.0 20.93°C (I)

dw / dt = kw

-0.5 -1.0 -50

FIG. 3

150 100 Temperature, °C

200

250

DSC heat-flow curves of polymeric material obtained indicating no melting and crystallization temperatures thus ruling out the possibility of polybutenes.

spectrum was matched with spectra from the standard FTIR library, and the closest match identified a 30% styrene-butadiene block copolymer (SBR). For standard polybutadiene, the wave numbers of absorption are: weak‚–695, 813 cm-1; medium–992cm-1 and strong–908, 962 cm-1 and 3,008 cm-1.2 An FTIR spectrum of the polymer sample (green line) is overlaid with SBR (red line) as shown in Fig. 2. Note: All of the absorption peaks corresponding to polybutadiene rubber is exhibited by the polymeric sample and matches with SBR is 86.5%. The mismatch was due to styrene components (1,492 cm-1, 752 cm-1) only. This clearly demonstrated that the obtained material is polybutadiene rubber. Glass transition, melting and crystallization determinations. Functional group analysis showed the presence of polybutadiene. However, the possibility of polybutene-1 formation cannot be completely ruled out, although its formation requires a catalyst. Polybutene-1 is available in three forms and all of them are crystalline with clear melting points and different densities.3 The melting point and density for Form I–135°C, 935 kg/m3; Form II–124°C, 890 kg/m3; and Form III–106.5°C.4 The overall crystallinity ranges from 48% to 55%, and glass transition temperatures range from –25°C to –17°C. Conversely, polybutadiene is 72

completely amorphous with glass transition temperatures ranging from –70°C to –15°C. To demonstrate the polymer nature, DSC studies were done in the range of –50°C to 250°C at a heating/ cooling rate of 10°C/min. Fig. 3 shows the heat flow pattern during heating and cooling cycles. It is implied that no melting point was observed during the study range (–50°C to 250°C), thus indicating the absence of other polybutenes. Thermogravimetry analysis. The studies so far demonstrated that the material from the 1-butene sphere is polybutadiene. TGA studies were done to understand this polymer’s degradation behavior. Prior to the TGA studies, experiments were done by burning 25 gm of as-is polymeric material in a crucible, and a 15% ash content was obtained. For experiments with TGA, surface cleaning was carried out, and a nearly transparent polymeric material (polybutadiene) used for the analysis. Degradation studies of polybutadiene were done with TGA methods at different heating rates (5°, 10° and 20°C/ min) in inert atmosphere. Results are shown in Fig 4a. No significant residue was obtained in all of the three cases, as the material is mostly polybutadiene. The peak degradation temperature at the heating rate of 10°C/ min is 469.5°C, and the literature reported value, for polybutdiene at 10°C/min heating rate, is 470°C.5 Peak temperatures for degradation at 5°C/min and 20°C/min are 458.3°C and 481°C, respectively. The onset temperature of degradation (5% loss) at 5°C/min, 10°C/min and 20°C/min are 412.5°C, 407°C and 417°C, respectively. The temperature of complete degradation (95% loss) at 5°C/min, 10°C/min and 20°C/min are 481.1°C, 493.8°C and 505.3°C, respectively. To estimate activation energy, the degradation was assumed to follow first order. The rate equation can be written as:

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

(1)

where w is the weight of polymer retained k is the rate constant for degradation t is the time. Eq. 1 can be modified with rate of heating dT/dt = , and assuming Arrhenius law for rate constant as: (dw / dT) = K0Exp(–E / RT) W

(2)

Weight of the material retained can be replaced as w = w0 (1 – x), where w0 is the initial weight of material taken, and x is the fraction of material lost. After replacement followed by logarithm of Eq. 2, it can be written as: ln [(– 1–x) (dx / dT)] = lnk0 (–E / RT)

(3)

Activation energy can be estimated from the slope of the plot between ln – ( /(1 – x) dx/dT) vs 1/T. Activation energy for degradation of polybutadiene was also estimated with three heating rates. The activation energy of degradation is 66 kCal/mol ±5% errors. The activation estimation at different temperatures is shown in Fig. 4b. Characterization using ICP-AES. The ash content obtained after the organic polymer was taken up for metal analysis. In this test, 25 gm of material was used in the ICP-AES test. Method No. EPA6010B was used to analyze the metals. Ash content was 15 wt% of the total sample. Target metals were given as iron, titanium, aluminum and magnesium. The inorganic material contained 6.7 wt% of Fe2O3 and 2.5 wt% of TiO2 are in trace quantities.

PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS

-2.5 -3.0

-4.5

550

FIG. 4A Degradation behavior of polymeric material at different heating rates 5°C/min, 10°C/min and 20°C/min.

0.00138

500

0.00129

400 450 Temperature, °C

0.00128

350

0.00134

-5.0

20 -5.5

y = 33677 x + 41.439 R2 = 0.979 y = 34961 x + 44.478 R2 = 0.9916

y = 31866 x + 37.656 R2 = 0.9907 0.00133

0.00137

-4.0

0.00136

-3.5

0.00135

10 0 300

5°C/min 10°C/min 20°C/min

0.00132

a) 5°C/min 10°C/min 20°C/min

0.00131

Weight rentention, %

Activation energy estimation for the rubber

-2.0

0.0013

Thermal degradation behavior at various heating rates

ln(␤dw/dT )

100

1/T, K-1 FIG. 4B Activation energy estimation from thermogravimetry data.

Root-cause analysis for polybutadiene formation.

The 1-butene storage sphere is maintained at a pressure of 3.4 kg/cm2g and ambient temperature. When the sphere was cleaned during a turnaround, 45 kg of polymeric material was found on the inside walls of the sphere and on one of the LTs. Before storing 1-butene into the sphere, lab analysis is usually done to estimate the total dienes. All of the samples received between the two cleaning were under specification, i.e., less than 10 ppm of total dienes. If all the dienes came through 1-butene were to polymerize, highly unlikely event, the total amount would be 7.8 kg. There is still 30.5 kg of only polybutadiene left unaccounted for. This strongly indicates the butadiene should have been formed in-situ. Since butadiene is an unstable molecule with the absence of any inhibitors, it formed polybutadiene. Fig. 5 illustrates the pattern of polybutadiene formation inside the sphere. To understand the root cause of polybutadiene formation in the 1-butene sphere, the polymer formation pattern in the sphere was carefully studied. No polymer formed on the top section of the sphere where there is no contact between 1-butene and top of the sphere; thick material formed at the bottom of the sphere. From Fig. 5, it can be seen that the polymeric material formed in a crescent shape with the thicker portion at the bottom and very thin layers on the sides. CS is the material of construction for this sphere. This sphere has two sakura-type LTs made from SS tubes. The tubes are supported through a bottom plate. The bottom plate of LT1 is made of SS, and the LT2 has a bottom plate made of CS. It can be seen that the no polymeric material was found at any portion of LT1. This rules out the possibility of polymer formation in the bulk phase due to butadiene with 1-butene as an impurity. The LT2 tube (made of SS) also did not have any polybutadiene; yet, much of the polymer was found at the bottom plate of LT2 (made of CS). This clearly indicates that polymer has been formed on the CS surface only where the possibility of rust formation is very high. The interface between CS bottom plate and SS tube of LT2 is a potential spot for galvanic corrosion. If moisture and dissolved oxygen is available in the sphere, they will facilitate rust formation. The study revealed that polymeric material contained 6.7% of Fe2O3 , amounting to 3 kg of rust. The rust should have acted as a catalyst to convert 1-butene to butadiene. It has been demonstrated in the literature6 through temperature-programmed desorption and reaction studies that unmodi-

Liquid level

LT1

FIG. 5

LT2

Polymeric material formation pattern in the sphere.

fied ␣-Fe2O3 (common rust) is indeed capable of converting 1-butene to 1, 3-butadiene at low temperatures. At 150°C, significant catalyst activity has been reported for the conversion of 1-butene to 1, 3-butadiene. By assuming Arrhenius kinetic behavior for the reaction, there will be nominal reaction rate possibility at ambient conditions, 40°C, which will prevail in this region. The activity of rust is only short lived. The shorter activity is due to the limiting desorption step. There is reasonable adsorption of 1-butene and butadiene on the rust surface at ambient conditions. However, for these materials to desorb, it really needs high temperature; 1-butene requires 110°C and butadiene requires 180°C. This behavior leads to site blocking. Studies have been done with an adsorbed surface, which showed very little absorption of 1-butene indicating that site blockage by reactants/products. To replenish the catalyst activity fully, it had to be heated with flow oxygen at 300°C.6 Quantification of butadiene formed revealed that amount of reduction on iron HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 73

PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS oxide surface would be for two to three monolayers within Fe2O3 catalyst.6 From our studies and analyses, it is clearly implied that presence of significant amount of rust (6.7 wt%) and abundant 1-butene led to polybutadiene formation. For every gram of Fe2O3, 12.5 gm of polybutadiene was formed. The polybutadiene formation can be arrested if the rust is controlled. The mechanism of polybutadiene formation is: • Room temperature adsorption of 1-butene on Fe2O3 surface • Catalytic conversion of 1-butene to 1, 3-butadiene up to 2 to 3 monolayers of catalyst at room temperature • 1, 3-butadiene polymerization to polybutadiene as dienes are unstable molecules and no inhibitor in the system. As revealed in the study, after a few butadiene molecules formed on the iron-oxide surface, it loses the activity, thereby making the catalyst dead. This phenomenon avoided the larger quantity of polybutadiene being formed. If the catalyst activity was replenished, it could have led to an even larger amount of polybutadiene.

formed due to hydrotesting and purging with air during cleaning should be removed before placing the 1-butene sphere in service. A dryer could be installed upstream of sphere to control the moisture/oxygen entry to sphere. Inhibitors may be added, if the polybutadiene formation is inevitable, to avoid polymerization. However, care must be taken while selecting inhibitors to avoid any detrimental effects on polymerization. HP NOMENCLATURE Iron Titanium Aluminum Magnesium

1 2

3 4

Conclusions. The polybutadiene did form due to the catalytic

conversion of 1-butene to 1,3-butadiene over the iron oxide surface. The basic requisite for the rust formation in this case: galvanic corrosion due to two dissimilar metals at LT2 bottom and oxygen/moisture aided the corrosion in other parts of sphere. To avoid forming polybutadiene in the 1-butene sphere, rust formation must be avoided by changing the LT2 bottom plate to SS and enacting measures to avoid significant entry of moisture and oxygen into the system during operations. The amount of rust

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LITERATURE CITED Peacock, A., Handbook of Polyethylene-Structure Properties and Applications, Taylor and Francis, 2000. Cohn, D., M. Aronhime, and T. Stern, “Synthesis and Derivation of Polybutadiene containing Poly (ether urethane amide)s,” Polymer, Vol. 41, No. 17, 2000, pp. 6519–6526. Alger, M. S. M., Polymer Science Dictionary, Springer, 1997. Jones, A. T., “Copolymers of Butene-1 with ␣-olefins. Crystallization Behavior and Polybutene Type II to Type I Crystal Phase Transformation,” Journal of Polymer Science: Part C, Vol. 16, 1967, pp. 393–404. Luda, M. P., M. Guiata, O. Chiantore, “Thermal Degradation of Polybutadiene 2: Overall Thermal Behaviors of Polymers with Different Microstructures,” Makromol. Chem., 193, 1992, pp. 113–121. Golunsji, S. E. and A. P. Walker, “Mechanism of Low Temperature Oxydehydrogenation of 1-Butene to 1,3 Butadiene over Novel Pd-O-Fe-O Catalyst,” Journal of Catalyst, Vol. 204, 2001, pp. 209–218.

Dr. G. Sivalingam is the general manager in the Reliance Technology Group at Reliance Industries Ltd. He earned a PhD in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and an M Tech degree in chemical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He was awarded with various National (by INAE and IIChE) and Institute Level Awards (by IISc, Univ of Madras) for his contributions. He has authored 31 reference articles, 18 conference presentations with 700 citations and h-index of 15. Since joining Reliance in 2006, he has been working on various initiatives in research and technology development, process modeling, process debottlenecking and polymer nanocomposites. He worked with John F. Welch Technology Centre, GE prior to joining Reliance. He is a certified green belt in six sigma and a reviewer for journals.

Nitin Bokde is a general manager in Reliance Industries Ltd., India. He holds a B Tech degree in chemical engineering from the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, India. He began his professional career as a management trainee in 1994 in Indian Petrochemicals Corp. Ltd. (IPCL), now part of the Reliance Group. Since then, he is associated with polyethylene gas-phase technology in production and in technical services.

Jayant D. Divey is the senior vice president in the polymer technology group of Reliance Industries Ltd. and has been a part of this group for the last 14 years. Prior to that, he was with National Organic Chemicals Industries in Mumbai. He has over 30 years of experience in polyolefins and petrochemical industry ,which mainly includes HPPE, HDPE, LLDPE, PP and FCC downstreams in the refinery. He has specialized in process design and development, technology, projects and all aspects of manufacturing. He is a chemical engineer with post-graduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and a diploma in Management Studies from Bombay University.

Suketu M. Vakil is a group president in polymer technology group of Reliance Industries Ltd., India. He holds a B. ChE degree in chemical engineering. He has more than 35 years of experience in polymer field including 25 years at Reliance. He has led technology, project, operation and R&D in various capacities during his long tenure.

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Pipe

Louisiana

Denbury is a growing independent oil and natural gas company. It’s the largest oil and natural gas operator in Mississippi; it owns the largest reserves of CO2 used for tertiary oil recovery east of the Mississippi River, and holds significant operating acreage in Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. Denbury’s CO2 source field, Jackson Dome, located near Jackson, Mississippi, was discovered during the 1970s while being explored for hydrocarbons (Fig. 1). This significant source of CO2 is the only one known of its kind in the US east of the Mississippi River. Mississippi’s first EOR project began in the mid 1980s in the Little Creek Field following the installation of Shell Oil Company’s Choctaw CO2 pipeline. The 183-mile Choctaw Pipeline (now referred to as the NEJD Pipeline) transported CO2 produced from Jackson Dome to the Little Creek Field. While the CO2 flood proved successful in recovering significant oil amounts, commodity prices at that time made the project unattractive and Shell later sold its oil fields in this area, as well as the CO2 source wells and pipelines.

Green Pipeline Conroe

Hastings

Lockhart Crossing

Jackson Dome DRI Dock Free State Pipeline

Mississippi

D CO

Denbury’s new and existing CO2 dehydration facilities.

Currently, more than 1.0 billion sq ft per day (Bscfd) of CO2 is produced from Jackson Dome Area operations. The pipeline network has been expanded from the single NEJD Pipeline including the Free State Pipeline to East Mississippi; the Delta Pipeline going into northeast Louisiana; and the recent completion of the Green Pipeline that delivers CO2 across the Gulf Coast Region from the end of the NEJD Pipeline to south of Houston. Source well operating pressures range from 800 psig to 4,000 psig. Jackson Dome is generally referred to as the CO2 source, but it is also the name of the original central dehydration facility that uses a glycerol process to dehydrate supercritical CO2-rich streams. The Jackson Dome dehydration unit was built by Shell and based on research performed in the 1980s to understand the dynamics of dehydrating supercritical CO2 with glycols and glycerols.1–5 The research showed that glycerol can dehydrate supercritical CO2 more effectively than glycols. Critical pressure and temperature for pure CO2 are 1,070 psia and 87.8°F, respectively. It should be noted that a glycerol unit built 20 years ago and operated by a different company is believed to be no longer operational.6 In 2003, an expansion to the Jackson Dome dehydration plant was completed, adding internals to the inlet separator and contactor to almost double the capacity. Since then, Denbury has built several new glycerol-based CO2 dehydration units to keep pace with its increase in CO2 production. Since Denbury continues to find high-pressure source wells, it is advantageous to dehydrate the CO2 with glycerol at pipeline conditions without compression. The new dehydration units are described briefly in Table 1. The gas composition is generally 99.4% CO2, 0.3% N2 and 0.3% C1.

NEJ

wenty years after the first two glycerol dehydration units were built for supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) use, Denbury Resources found a need to build new units to process the increasing amount of CO2 production from the Jackson Dome area in Mississippi. Denbury has now completed and started up five new glycerol-based dehydration facilities in the past five years, with other units under construction. Glycerol is used to dehydrate CO2 when high-pressures and non-idealities cause excessive vapor-phase glycol (i.e., ethylene, diethylene or trietheylene glycol) losses, making normal glycol-based dehydration uneconomical in comparison with glycerol-based dehydration. Denbury uses the supercritical CO2 primarily for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). This article presents reasons for Denbury’s recent surge in glycerol unit construction as well as types of other applications where glycerol dehydration may be well suited. Differences between using glycerol and glycol for dehydration with supercritical, densephase CO2 gas streams will also be discussed. Since commercial process simulators are not well suited for designing this type of system, a model was developed to rigorously predict phase equilibria in the absorber and simulate other process equipment. The simulator and other data used to build the new glycerol dehydration units are reviewed along with presenting key design features of the dehydration plants.

Donaldsville Fig Ridge Oyster Bayou

Gulf of Mexico

FIG. 1

Dehydration facility map.

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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PLANT DESIGN The post-expansion process performance at Jackson Dome was used to validate modeling results. Improvements were also made to the new dehydration plants based on Denbury’s Jackson Dome experience and advancements with process technology. Dehydration of supercritical CO2 streams with glycerol.

The properties of supercritical CO2 impact the dehydration system design in two ways: • Mutual solubilities of the desiccant and CO2 • Saturated water content of CO2 with temperature and pressure. Data taken in a laboratory setting, and from field tests, concluded that glycerol had a much lower solubility in supercritical CO2 than did ethylene glycol (EG), diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol (TEG). Table 2 illustrates that TEG is 10–200 times more soluble than glycerol in CO2 over a pressure range of 1,200 psig–2,000 psig. This means that TEG would have excessive vapor losses and makeup requirements, making normal glycolbased dehydration uneconomical. Operational data from Jackson Dome supports the glycerol solubility data from these sources. A gross material balance of the glycerol added to the system indicates 4 ppmv–5 ppmv of glycerol is soluble at 1,300 psig and 115°F. Table 2 also shows that, unlike the glycols, glycerol solubility in CO2 did not increase significantly with lower CO2 temperatures. However, due to the high glycerol viscosity and rapidly increasing supercritical CO2 density as the temperature decreases, glycerol would probably not be used to dehydrate CO2 below 100°F. In addition, the CO2 solubility in glycerol was also determined to be only one-tenth of the solubility in glycols. This results in lower flashing losses.

simulation was developed specifically for supercritical dehydration of CO2 with glycerol. This is because the standard property sets in most process simulators perform poorly when modeling fluid properties and phase equilibrium at near-critical conditions. Careful review of the thermodynamic parameters in the process simulator is required, with adjustments made to match reliable data. Key modeling aspects will be discussed shortly.

167°

4 3 122°

2 lb water/MMscf wet gas

Potential uses of glycerol-based dehydration. Dehydration was originally developed for essentially pure supercritical CO2–streams containing high CO2 content that need to be dehydrated at high pressure. An example to use this technology is the stream dehydrated using glycerol in Hungary.6 The Hungarian stream had 81% CO2 with the remainder consisting of methane—dehydrated at a pressure near 2,000 psi. Other potential applications of the glycerol technology may exist where a combination of high CO2 content and a need to dehydrate at high pressure create the operating conditions and compositions where glycerol may have lower solubility losses than glycols and better overall economics. Glycerol dehydration simulation development. A

1,000 9 8 7 6 500

1.5

45°

TABLE 1. Denbury’s new glycerol-based CO2 dehydration units

30° 100 9 8 7 6

88°

77°

65°

Plant

0°

Operation date

2006

2007

2008

2010

Flow, MMScfd

100

300

150

300

122°

88°

1.5

100

FIG. 2

Operating pressure, psig

65°

CO2 Sweet gas 1.5

6 7 89 500 1,000 Pressure, psia

Solubility limit for water in pure CO2.7 (Used with permission from GPSA).

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1.5

1,550

1,500

1,550

TBD

120

110

115

TBD

Water content in, lb/MMscf

201

Water content out, lb/MMscf

2.05

2.75

TABLE 2. Glycol and glycerol solubility in CO2 (ppmv)1 1,200 psi TEG Glycerol

3,000

2010 2011

Operating temperature, °F

Reboiler duty, MMBtu/hr

Gluck- Barksdale Barksdale Gluck- DRI stadt North South Trace stadt Dock

15°

Water solubility in pure CO2 is well documented in several sources.7 Fig. 2 shows the maximum water amount that can be dissolved into a homogeneous CO2 phase—for the purpose of this article, it is called the “solubility limit” for water in CO2. As shown in Fig. 2, at a fixed temperature, the solubility limit for water decreases with increasing pressure up to near the critical pressure. As the pressure increases beyond the critical pressure (1,070 psia), the solubility limit for water increases. However, small concentrations of other gases can significantly impact the water-holding capacity of CO2.4 Knowing the correct moisture content of the supercritical CO2 ensures that the absorber and regeneration equipment are not undersized. Other parameters that are important are the density of CO2, which can change greatly in the presence of small amounts of inert gases and hydrocarbons, and the viscosity of glycerol, which is significantly different than glycol (1,490 cps and 47.8 cps, respectively, at 20°C).4

TEG

2,000 psi Glycerol

2,800

73°F

1,800

12.3

95°F

390

8.2

–

115°F

3.3

1,900

PLANT DESIGN Absorber K-values. An important aspect of designing glycerol-based dehydration systems for supercritical CO2 is to have a good estimate of the K-value (i.e., phase equilibrium distribution coefficient) for water at the conditions in the absorber. Unreliable CO2-water equilibrium data can produce erroneous results in the absorber that adversely affect predicting operations in downstream vessels. Absorber K-values for water were calculated using the thermodynamic relationship:

K = y/x = ␥Psat⌽sat␩/⌽P

(1)

where: K = K-value, phase equilibrium distribution coefficient y = Mole fraction water in the dense CO2 phase x = Mole fraction water in the liquid phase ␥ = Activity coefficient for water (from vapor-liquid equilibrium data discussed in the following subsection) Psat = Vapor pressure of pure water at the system temperature (from steam tables) ⌽sat = Fugacity coefficient for pure water vapor at the system temperature and Psat (assumed to be unity) ␩ = Poynting correction factor for water (from the component partial molar volumes) ⌽ = Fugacity coefficient of water for the vapor phase P = System operating pressure (known). Most of the parameters in Eq. 1 are readily known or accessible from literature as indicated previously. However, it is the calculation of the vapor-phase fugacity of water in dense-phase CO2 near the critical conditions that is more difficult. Field data were used to validate the accuracy of the simulation in predicting K-values and resulting water contents over a range of actual operating conditions. Table 3 shows that the treated gas water contents are in very close agreement with the predicted equilibrium water content for the lean glycerol solution at the absorber conditions (i.e., within 5%–17% of the measured data). This indicates that the method discussed is reliable for predicting K-values and dehydrator outlet water contents.

to determine how much CO2 is picked up in the absorber and will evolve in the flash tank. Second, the CO2 solubility in glycerol is important in predicting the potential for two-phase flow through the heat exchangers in the process as the temperatures and pressures of the streams vary. Equilibrium data were used with the Wilson activity coefficient model to predict CO2 solubility in glycerol. Viscosity. The viscosity estimation method in the process simulator that most closely predicted viscosities found in the literature was selected. Viscosity data were used to calculate equipment pressure drop and model absorber hydraulics. Thermal conductivity. A method that accurately predicted the thermal conductivity for both 50-50 glycerol-water mixtures and high-purity glycerol streams was selected. Density. The densities of the inlet and outlet CO2 streams from the absorber were calculated using the Peng-Robinson equation of state. The calculated densities compared reasonably well to those obtained from other sources. Glycerol solubility in dense-phase CO2. The glycerol solubility in dense-phase CO2 has been reported in the literature and was used to estimate glycerol losses from the absorber.1 Glycerol-based dehydration design and research.

Fig. 3 illustrates a typical process flow diagram of the glycerolbased CO2 dehydration units for Denbury’s new facilities. The glycerol process operates much in the same manner as a TEG unit so a detailed process description is not provided.7 Operational experience at Jackson Dome and advancements in process technology influenced the new glycerol process designs. Construction material for all process piping and vessels at the original Jackson Dome facility is 316/316L SS. In general, many of the same material choices used for glycol are appropriate for glycerol. The following materials choices were different in the new units compared to the original Jackson Dome plant: Glycerol Inlet contactor coalescer

Water–glycerol phase behavior. The vapor-liquid equilib-

rium (VLE) of water in glycerol is important because it is used to: • Predict the K-values in the absorber (activity coefficient of water) • Determine the lean glycerol water content from the reboiler and extra stripping column. VLE data for water and glycerol (in the concentration and temperature ranges in the absorber and reboiler) were obtained and used to regress the adjustable parameters in the Wilson activity coefficient model.

Inlet separator

Contactor outlet separator

Inlet gas LC

TABLE 3. Comparison to known field data Treated gas measured, lb/MMscf

Predicted equilibrium limit, lb/MMscf

% difference

7.0

6.7

–4.3

9.1

7.9

–13.2

7.2

7.8

8.3

9.8

10.9

11.2

13.2

15.5

17.4

21.4

25.1

17.3

LC LC

Low pressure ﬂash FIC

Glycerol pumps

Glycerol cooler Cold glycerol/ glycerol exchanger

CO2 solubility in glycerol. It is important to know the CO2

solubility in glycerol for several reasons. First, it provides a means

Dehydrated gas

Rich glycerol carbon ﬁlter

Still column/ reﬂux condenser

Glycerol ﬂash tank Hot glycerol/ glycerol exchanger Rich glycerol ﬁlters

Glycerol reboiler Extra stripping column

Lean glycerol ﬁlters

FIG. 3

Surge tank Glycerol booster pump

Process flow diagram for Denbury’s glycerol-based CO2 dehydration unit. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

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PLANT DESIGN glycerol was required for the development of a reliable processsimulation tool to design new glycerol processes. Denbury’s operational experience at Jackson Dome was important in constructing high-performing glycerol-based units for dehydration of supercritical CO2. Using glycerol dehydrators allows Denbury to process more CO2 for increased hydrocarbon recovery. The information provided can be applied for designing other highCO2, high-pressure applications, as well, even if the stream is not essentially pure CO2. HP FIG. 4

New Denbury glycerol unit.

• The contactor was built with 316L SS in the lower section and a carbon steel shell above the bottom 2 ft. of packing. This was done since the gas is sub-saturated as it moves counter-current to the glycerol through the packed section. This concept was successfully proven elsewhere. • Carbon steel was used for all glycerol piping except for downstream of the glycerol flash tank. In this area, 316L SS was used instead to provide low temperature integrity if CO2 vented through the control valve if the liquid level control in the flash absorber was lost. • Carbon steel was used for the rich/lean exchanger shells, the glycerol air cooler, the reboiler shell and filter vessels. Design elements of note from the Jackson Dome process that were incorporated into the new glycerol units will be described further. Isolation valves for the hot and cold glycerol exchangers were included for periodic cleaning/maintenance due to fouling from upset conditions or high skin temperatures. Due to high glycerol viscosity, glycerol booster pumps were used to ensure continuous flow from the reboiler through the hot and cold glycerol exchangers. A fire tube liner was included in the reboiler to moderate the skin temperature in contact with the glycerol, thus, reducing the degradation rate. The glycerol flash tank and still were constructed of 316L SS due to the wet CO2 in those areas. Other key design aspects include using low-maintenance and low-cost horizontal submersible pumps or gear pumps for glycerol circulation and incorporating an extra stripping column for enhanced water removal. A provision for a filter coalescer upstream of the glycerol contactors for removal of water with high salt and chloride content as the well declines was also included in the design. Jackson Dome data was used to size the absorbers in the new units. As work with supercritical CO2 continues, there have been some areas of research and innovation. A series of tests were conducted to quantify the performance of liquid and solid hydrogen sulfide (H2S) scavengers at process conditions when 50 ppm–100 ppm of H2S was detected in one of the source wells. The test results indicated a reduced efficiency of these scavenging products for H2S removal compared to the typical performance on natural gas.8 Another area of study was glycerol solubility in CO2. Although the solubility is much less than glycols, the price of glycerol was over $1/lb in 2008 when oil prices were at their peak. Additives were identified to further reduce glycerol solubility in CO2 and a full-scale test is planned. Fig. 4 shows a new glycerol unit. Summary. The rigorous review of thermodynamic proper-

ties associated with the dehydration of supercritical CO2 with 78

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LITERATURE CITED Wallace, C., “Dehydration of Supercritical CO2,” Gas Conditioning Conference, 1985. 2 Song, K. Y. and R. Kobayashi, “The Water Content of CO -rich Fluids in 2 Equilibrium with Liquid Water or Hydrate,” GPA Research Report 80, May 1984. 3 Takahashi, S. and R. Kobayashi, “The Water Content and the Solubility of CO2 in Equilibrium with DEG-Water and TEG-Water Solutions at Feasible Absorption Conditions,” GPA Technical Publication 9, December 1982. 4 Song, K. Y. and R. Kobayahsi, “H O Content Values of a CO -5.31 Mol % 2 2 Methane Mixture,” GPA Research Report 120, January 1989. 5 Diaz, Z. and J. H. Miller, “Drying Substantially Supercritical CO with 2 Glycerol,” US Patent No. 4,478,612, October 1984. 6 Udvardi, G., L. Gerecs, Y. Ouchi, F. Nagakura, E. A. Thoes and C.B. Wallace, “Processing Facilities for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Hungary,” Proceedings of 69th Annual GPA Convention, Phoenix, Arizona, March 12–13, 1990. 7 Gas Processors Suppliers Association (GPSA) Engineering Databook, FPS Volume II, Twelfth Edition, Chapter 20, pp. 20–7 and 20–38, 2004. 8 McIntush, K., C. Beitler, M. Swadener and C. Wallace, “Screening Processes for Removal of H2S from Enhanced Oil Recovery CO2 Streams,” Laurance Reid Gas Conditioning Conference, Norman, Oklahoma, 2010. 1

Mark Swadener is a reservoir engineer at Denbury Resources in Plano, Texas. He has seven years of experience in facilities, production/operations and reservoir engineering for West Texas and Texas Gulf Coast oil fields. Most recently, Mr. Swadener was the operations engineer at Jackson Dome, responsible for the completion, production and maintenance of CO2 source wells and facilities. He received his BS degree in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Joe Lundeen is a principal engineer at Trimeric Corp. in Buda, Texas. He has 21 years of experience in process engineering, process troubleshooting and facility installation for oil and gas production and CO2 processing clients. Mr. Lundeen’s recent experience has focused on dehydration, contaminant removal and transport of super-critical CO2. He earned BS and MS degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri—Rolla and Texas A&M—College Station, respectively.

Kevin Fisher is a principal engineer at Trimeric Corp. in Buda, Texas. He has over 20 years of experience in process engineering, research and development, and troubleshooting for oil and gas production and oil refining clients, as well as for private and government-sponsored research programs. Mr. Fisher specializes in the areas of acid-gas removal, CO2 capture, gas processing and gas dehydration. He earned an MS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and BS degrees in chemical engineering and chemistry from Texas A&M—College Station and Sam Houston State University, respectively.

Carrie Beitler is a senior engineer at Trimeric Corp. in Buda, Texas. She has over 15 years of experience in process engineering, process modeling and optimization of unit operating in the natural gas, petroleum refining and CO2 processing areas. She also specializes in the development of process design packages for the fabrication of open-art technology such as caustic scrubbers, acid-gas injection units, glycol dehydrators and amine treaters. She earned a BS degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University.

PROCESS CONTROL

What is the outlook for advanced control engineering? New view strips away the myths over automation technology J. WANG, Energy Services Division, Nalco Co., Sugar Land, Texas

rocess control technology plays a significant role in improving and maintaining efficient process operations. It influences the strategic and operational goals of enterprises, economic results, development and quality of products, continuity of production and competitiveness within the marketplace. Over the past years, industries have invested heavily in model predictive control (MPC) controllers. Many within the industry believe MPC is the only way for advanced control that facilitates process improvement with the high project return on investment. In some organizations, MPC tools are the company standard; other methods are taken as nonstandard low-level technologies. Some organizations refuse to accept other technologies no matter how well they perform. Nonprofessional control engineers always believe that dynamic matrix control (DMC) software is versatile, and they try to use DMC packages for basic stability/control problems. Myth vs. facts. Too often, many techniques can be applied

for advanced process control (APC) and process improvement. For example, intelligent control (neural net, fuzzy logic and expert systems) are very commonly used in APC, and some other techniques such as supervisory control, system identification/ modeling skills are most indispensable in APC. The objective of this article is to analyze current misapplication, challenges and engineering management of advanced control technology for process improvement and to present the prospect of advanced control technology while educating how to use advanced control correctly and efficiently.

over typical process control, APC represents an enhancement in the performance of control strategies that results in more consistent production, process optimization, better product qualities and less waste. While regulatory controls maintain mass and heat balances, advanced controls manipulate the mass and heat balances to achieve the best performance or quality. With the development of information/computer technologies, having a powerful server connected to the plant collecting realtime data opened up numerous possibilities for complementary technologies. For example, complementary technology is an inferential estimation technology (soft sensor) that would infer the required composition of the stream to be used in the control system, in the absence of online analyzers or long delays in the measurement signals. Expert systems. Another example of advanced control is the expert-systems technology that captured engineersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; imagination back in the early 1980s. It is based on capturing knowledge of the best operators and transforming real-time data into useful information through reasoning and analysis. The technology has had success with applications such as special detection and signal processing, startup/shutdown, emergency and abnormal condition monitoring and diagnostics. Fig. 1 shows the plant operations pyramid and the commonly used techniques of advanced process control. The pyramid as it stands, represents the data transfer rates for the applications. The inverse of the pyramid is also true for the computations per solution. DISADVANTAGES AND MISAPPLICATION OF MPC

Advanced control background. Since the advent of the

distributed control system (DCS) in the 1970s, it has been widely used. DCS provided a tool for easy implementation of existing control strategies such as cascade, feed forward, nonlinear control, Smith predictors, constraint control and even decoupling control. These are control schemes based on the proportionalintegral-derivative (PID) single-loop feedback controller, and they provided the platform of distributed and supervisory control, which is called (advanced) regulatory control. What it is. Advanced control is a systematic studied approach to choosing relevant techniques and their integration into a cooperative management and control system that will significantly enhance plant operation and profitability. APC includes more sophisticated strategies, such as intelligent control, adaptive algorithms and MPC tied to empirical modeling. As an improvement

MPC technology no longer relies on traditional servo-control techniques, e.g., feedback control was first designed to handle effects from unmeasured disturbances and have done a fairly good job for about 100 years. MPC assumes that the knowledge regarding the process is perfect and that all disturbances have been identified. MPC is an open-loop system. There is no way for an MPC to handle unmeasured disturbances, other than to readjust at each controller execution, and the bias is similar to an integral-only control action. This partially explains MPCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s poor behavior when challenged by disturbances unaccounted for by the controller. MPC has been sold as the ultimate solution to every plantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s control and optimization needs. But, as engineers point out, for a multitude of reasons, the results from MPC implementations often produce short-lived, sub-optimal and/or poor outcomes. The products HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 79

PROCESS CONTROL

Sch

edu

ling

RTO

APC

DCS

FIG. 1

Plant operation pyramid.

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ths

Mon

Expert systems Fuzzy logic Multivariable control Inferential control Neural network Data mining Performance monitoring Statistical process control Supervisory control

Plan ning

now in the marketplace have been over-used and are forced to perform functions for which they were neither designed, nor should have been allowed, to do. But MPC products were so heavily marketed and over-sold that the few voices of reason that may have existed were overwhelmed and could not prevail. Over the last few years, MPC is applied too much and is continuing to receive records of lackluster performance. It is estimated that more than 50% of applications are in “off mode” or do not work at all (worse than regulatory control); only about 10% are fully working well, according to some industry experts.1,2 The limitations of MPC have been thoroughly exposed, although probably widely ignored.3 Many take MPC as a versatile control package. Result: There are many misapplications. Concerns for MPC include: • MPC is based on tested local model. Working in its tested operating point, re-vamp work is inevitable once the operating point changes. Correcting model mismatch requires retesting and remodeling—very expensive maintenance action item. MPC controllers, particularly complex ones implemented on complex units with many interactions, require constant attention from highly trained (and highly paid) control engineers. This is a luxury that few operating companies can afford. • Hiring contractors to do an APC project will take 5–12 months since they need more time to become familiar with the processes and to test the processes. All of this effort costs more money; normally, a small project with 6–12 MVs, will costs around $150,000–$200,000. Contractors are normally professional in software package that they are using, and may not be professional in process and control system design. So, they try to do projects in their ways that may work for a while, but it is NOT the best design mode. • If we interview operators or observe their operation, we find that they are always changing the MPC limits. This is because MPC design cannot satisfy the operation, and they try to control the system by moving limits. Clearly, this corresponds to manual control. When feeds change or the outflow changes, the MPC is turned off. The system is unstable due to big swings because the material balance is broken. • MPC packages tend to hide technical stuff, and good ones will assist through commissioning. MPC engineers must be able to understand the process objectives and the features

1-3 s k wee

that make control difficult—only then can the MPC be set up with correct DVs, MVs, CVs, etc., and simple compensation for nonlinearities. We can imagine that MPC could be applied to minimize the need for good engineering. But, that is a false economy. Licensors of MPC software will tell you that their algorithms will “optimize” operation by operating at constraints using the least costly combination of manipulated variable assets. That is certainly correct. Mathematically, that is the way the linear programming (LP) or qualitative programming (QP) works. In practice, however, any actual “optimizing” is marginal at best. This is due to several reasons.4 • MPC takes ALL of the credit for improved performance. The benefit calculation is traditionally based on vague industry experience and some assumptions that are not always correct. For example, the performance will be consistent, and all achieved benefits are due to the MPC.5 In fact, all MPC performance is not consistent because it is based on a local tested model. The achieved benefit relies on the whole control system design strategy, including regulatory control design, PID parameter tuning, advanced regulatory control scheme and advanced control design (inferential control, fuzzy logic, system identification, supervisory control, MPC, etc.). More important, once we modified the control strategy, tuned parameters and updated the design, we will find that the performance had already significantly improved. Is MPC really needed? • Why are some examples successful applications? First, the engineers or designers have very good working knowledge about the process. They fully know how the variables behave, including control-action direction, operation limits, dead time, dynamic response, steady state, etc. Secondly, the process control is a “slow” system—any disturbance can be slowly eliminated by feedback control as long as the control-action direction is correct. Consider the MPC modeling process: the model is built based on a local test data, and then the designer will fabricate it according to their process knowledge. Is this the right direction? Is the dead time okay? Is the steady state and model gain fine? The model will be modified until the designers are satisfied based on their process knowledge. There is no model validation in MPC packages; the “prediction” function that they have is using the modeling data for data checking—this is nothing. You must have more than 99% data match in this “prediction.” In addition, this knowledge-based model with many parameters does change online based on operation: limit ranges, bias, model gain, etc. So, we can understand why MPC is successful in certain applications within a short operation range. As long as the action direction is correct, the model works. Few industry people ask if this is the best way to control and what is it worth? MPC for simple control system. If one uses MPC where

Hou

utes

Min

ond

Sec

a PID controller with feedforward could work just as well, it is just a misapplication. For example, what about using a multivariable controller (MVC) to control a fired-heater outlet temperature by adjusting the fuel? Even in the case where you have multiple control variables and a single manipulated variable, a set of PID controllers with some intelligent design would likely work better than the MVC in a single-tower control, or even in a couple of towers together. Other widely misapplied MPC applications are, for inventory control, basic stability control, long steady-state time processes, directly controlled valves using MPC, etc. PID with feedforward or many other control techniques are a simpler and better performing solution.

PROCESS CONTROL Combustion MPC design problem. A good combustion-control system will save energy and improve the unit efficiency. This will depend on the fuel and air flow both in steady-state and dynamic modes of the process. In some petrochemical furnace systems, the fuel and air are independently controlled by temperature and oxygen. This absolutely devalues the combustion efficiency, in particular, for dynamic processes, e.g., when changing the temperature setpoints or disturbance happens. Few combustion units are successfully controlled by MPC since the system needs more intelligent factors. Most MPC combustion-control designs use the fuel and air as MVs, and try to rely on the local tested model to achieve the firing rate demand. Obviously, this design does not consider efficient combustion. The correct design is to use the ratio of fuel and air as the MV. The idea for efficient combustion is to have air lead the fuel on increases in demand for and fuel to lead air on decreases in demand. On load increases, the air is increased ahead of the fuel. On load decreases, the fuel is decreased ahead of the air. This motivates us to develop cross-limiting combustion control strategies.

rochemical/refinery industry systems. To maintain its successes, the industry must be flexible and adaptable to new technologies, external pressures and changing markets. All of these challenges require systematic improvement methodology and advanced technologies for optimization, control and planning. The most commonly used advanced control techniques include: • Adaptive control: Controller changes over time (adapts) • Intelligent control: Fuzzy logic, neural network, expert systems • Supervisory control: Optimization by certain objectives • Efficiency inferential without analyzer: Optimization and modeling • Model predictive control: Multiple inputs and/or outputs decouple solutions • Nonlinear control techniques: Nonlinear gain scheduling, neuro-fuzzy control and challenging to derive analytic results • Process modeling and system identification: Principle and empirical models • Optimal control and stochastic control: Controller minimizes a cost function of error and control energy or the controller minimizes variance.

Material balance issues in MPC design. A process sys-

tem consists of inputs, outputs and internal dynamics; they work in a fixed balance relationship at all times. Sacrificing this relationship to get a local control/optimization is a short-sighted method, and it eventually will compromise the control/optimization, leading to an unstable state. It is necessary to maintain the materials balance at all times. Consider these scenarios: 1) the feeds change; 2) outflows have a large change; and 3) tower reflux has major change. All of these conditions move the system into an unstable state or the systems experience wide swings due to a break in the balance relationship if there is no material balance control. MPC is widely used in process systems—the feed is normally feedforward to the MPC control system. When we test the system, we have to test it in a wide range, although, the MPC is still in a local model. The model gain is not able to adapt to the material-balance relationship when system inflows or outflows change. Let’s study one example: Feed, Fin = 100; overhead outflow, FOH = 20; bottom outflow, FBT = 30; sidedraw, FSD = 50. Our design is to control the sidedraw to maintain the whole system material balance and stability, and to optimize the production using reflux (R ), FOH and FBT . MPC can be used for the optimization, but it cannot be used to control the material balance, because it totally depends on the local model by step test. The model gain cannot be adaptive to all situations. For example, the current gain is FSD = Fin = 50 =100, by optimization, the flow distribution change to FOH = 10, FBT = 20; so the sidedraw has to be FSD = 70. The gain becomes FSD = Fin = 70 = 100. It is clear that MPC does not work if it is still using the old gain. A material-balance supervisory control must be used to adapt all feed changes and outflow changes due to production optimization in maintaining system stability. This motivates us to develop a principle-material-balance-supervisory control system. ADVANCED CONTROL CHALLENGES

Control technology developed very rapidly, and process control is now ubiquitous within industries. With increasing reliance on information technology, systematic decision-making strategies are essential for effective and efficient performance including pet-

Developments. Most large companies have their own R&D

or engineering group to manage these challenges. They normally develop the control methods for one unit and then transfer them to others. These developments are very necessary and helpful for company’s long-term business goals. It is not good or difficult to hire contractors for some specific developments. However, some R&D or engineering groups do not have the abilities to develop control technology for their facilities, although they may have some process engineers with PhDs within the groups. Some development work can be very ridiculous. For example, consider tower-flood prediction by using a simple material-balance calculation, and then applying it to every unit. Likewise, consider using a simple MPC controller to manage onstreamtime to evaluate performance, and requiring all units to keep the controller on whether it works well or not. The superintendents always show off their controller onstream time is above 90%. If the time is less than 90%, this will affect operators’ bonuses. Here are some of practical process engineering APC topics and development issues that we always face: • DMC gain scheduling: An adaptive solution is needed. • Combustion control strategy for furnaces and heaters: Crosslimiting or fuzzy logic reasoning are needed. • pH control problems: Nonlinear control gain scheduling is needed. • For some tower level cascade flow control systems, the level control is not important, the flow is important and is required to be as stable as possible: Limit constrained selective control strategy, and supervisory control strategy are needed. • A tower feed or production flow change will cause instability or big swing: Material balance supervisory control is needed. • Controlling a tower bottom flow based on level and pressure drop in regulatory control: Selective control and logic selection mechanism are needed. • Inferential model development: System identification and fuzzy logic or neural network techniques may be needed. • Quality measurement is based on lab samples; there are no online analyzer. Accurate inferential model can control these processes: Rule-based fuzzy logic control or expert-system control strategy is needed. HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JULY 2011

I 81

PROCESS CONTROL APC ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT

An important APC benefit is from management. A knowledgeable, judicious management is able to pick up a reasonable technology, maximize benefits and minimize costs. The limitations of MPC have been thoroughly exposed, although widely ignored. Management of many companies has been seduced by the popular myth that MPC is easy to implement and to maintain. This is a misconception fostered at the highest management levels by those most likely to benefit from the proliferation of various MPC software packages. But this is not an overly pessimistic picture of APC as it exists. Advanced control is very promising provided that management clearly and correctly understands the APC concept. A judicious management should encourage people to develop the best approach for specific applications using innovative technologies; to build reasonable process performance tracking tools; to pay more attention to basic regulatory control and tuning work; and to aggressively seek change and/ or improvements.

the tool for those who are eager for instant success and quick, short-term profit. They can even collude with the vendors to push selling their technology and services. There are incidents when a client wanted to have the MPC implemented on a particular unit even after they were told that it wouldn’t add any value. Who cares whether it would work or not, these clients only wanted a MPC nameplate on their unit. For political reasons, many ridiculous things can be seen in plants. For example, a simple controller is designed as reflux subtract on an operator setting constant to control material balance of a tower. Although it does not work, especially when feedrate changes or other flow changes occur, it is reported this design can save energy at more than $1 million/yr, which corresponds to 5–6 months of total energy usage by this tower. This “advanced control” work was recognized by the superintendent and also published in the internal newspaper; nobody dared to say anything—surely all were blinded by technology. Capital projects. Most companies define MPC projects as

Improvement oriented methods

MPC software methods

Define objectives, measure and analyze

Weeks

capital projects, or almost 100% high-return projects are DMC based so that they can apply for funding and use outside resources. The argument is: time is money; using a contractor can get the project implementation done as soon as possible and reap a return. Conversely, people forget that: • Contractors need more time to study the system; their expertise is in the software package. Contractors may not be familiar with the specific application and may not have enough control technical skills. Result: The company will have to spend more time on the entire project, normally, even a small project may need 6–12 months. • Extra cost will be needed to hire contractors. • The designer always ignores the nature of real control problems and can pay more attention to the garish function of the software package. • Instant benefit is often too tiny to define a true capital project if considering cost, maintenance, revamp, etc., and this tiny benefit is often easily obtained from basic regulatory control change and tuning. Typically, the short-term benefit of a DMC/MPC is 1%–2% improvement, while a true optimization technology-based APC long-term benefit is about 10%–20%, conservatively speaking.

Pretest

0–2 days

2 weeks

Professional control engineer. Technically, the profes-

Step test

None

2 weeks

Modeling strategy design

1 week

4 weeks

Offline simulation

2 days

1–2 weeks

Falsely seduced by technology. There is a wrong con-

cept: MPC/DMC is better than traditional control. Many managers and process engineers believe this notion that MPC/DMC controllers can be deployed into every plant system. Nobody is asking: Is it necessary? Does it provide benefits? How does it work compared with other techniques? Does it involve higher costs (design, test, commissioning, maintenance, revamp, etc.)? A simple question should be considered: MPC/DMC are not suitable for most situations in refineries and petrochemical facilities. Table 1 lists a typical comparison for a small process control system, say, 8–12 MVs using improvement-based intelligent control design and software package based on standard MPC design. Some control-engineering groups are willing offer software packages (e.g., DMC) installer; MPC packages exactly provide TABLE 1. Comparison of improvement–oriented vs. MPC based systems

Implementation commissioning 1–3 days

2–4 weeks

Test cost

None

Huge

Resource cost

Internal work

External, $120–160K

Maintenance

Tiny

Huge

Revamp

None

1–2 years or months

Benefits

Always (global model) Depends (local model)

Designer

Control engineer

Process/DCS engineer

Software

DCS

Special package; licence; training; installation; maintenance

Special needs

Intelligent analysis

Analyzer

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

sional control engineer is the right person to determine what control technology should be used; what package is suitable; what resource should be used, especially if there is no political or management interference. Control engineers must be proficient in control and improvement skills and technologies. Process knowledge is necessary but not critical in control engineering. Process engineers or DCS engineers have too much superstition about MPC because they may not have the knowledge about state equation, z transform, system identification, impulse dead time analysis, frequency response and so forth. Thus, process engineers try to use a software package to replace the real control system analysis and design. They try to use their process knowledge to analyze the system instead of practical data statistical analysis. A professional control engineer should also have strong knowledge about process improvement methodology (six sigma), control technologies (algorithms, control design, modeling) and process performance evaluation techniques (statistical analysis).

PROCESS CONTROL Control technique standardization. Standardizing a

control technique using one software package for companywide plants is typically the wrong decision. The benefits from standardization are often touted. This is consistent with a recent trend in some large corporations, led by process engineering group or IT departments, to “standardize” technology solutions and then to “translate” the standard solutions from one problem to the next. The argument is: ease of implementation, low-cost maintenance, reduction in training, flexible movement across the whole organization, etc. Equally important, management is also concerned should the designer moves/leaves, nobody can take over or maintain the system. Thus, the automation group is told to standardize the company’s control strategy, DCS, MPC package; thus the operating company can use this standard exclusively for all control problems. Obviously, such an approach ignores the nature of real control problems in the plants and relegates control engineers to software transfer; furthermore, this standard technique will waste huge dollars, and lose significant opportunities for real improvement. ADVANCED CONTROL PROSPECT

MPC technology has its limits. It is the local optimizer and it does work well for one class of simple process. In particular, MPC technology works very well in labs or simulations because there is no unexpected issues such as model mismatch, extra disturbances, unknown condition changes and strong nonlinearity. Fortunately, there are many other technologies for APC. It is worth noting that APC benefits will rely on the capability of technology, expertise of the designer and the reliability of APC methodology. It is vital for management to audit APC benefits scientifically, professionally and reasonably. It is strongly recommended that an audit team reviews and approves the APC projects and audits the benefits after the project. The benefit can be estimated as: APC Benefit = (Optimum – Current operation) C% E% R% where C denotes capability of technology to capture benefits for the application E represents the expertise of implementation team for the application R represents the reliability of APC project methodology for the application. These points should be kept in mind before APC engineering: • Execute a detailed APC definition and justification study first. The study will provide a basis for investment and control technology determinations. • Design the APC to solve operating problems and optimize the process/operations. Use the principle of control design techniques—simpler solutions to solve lower level problems, with ascending, higher level solutions to achieve more complex control, optimization objectives. Encourage control engineers to think openly and use more control strategies/technologies to improve systems. MPC is not versatile; designing it correctly and efficiently is the urgent work to be accomplished. • When implementing APC, the purpose is to improve the process using the controller. Designers should pay more attention to process performance instead of controller evaluations. Professionally, there are many methods/calculations to evaluate controller performance depending on the objectives. For example, consider options such as constraint and capability analysis,

along with performance evaluation in terms of user-specified benchmarks, but we have to know the objective first. Having standardized companywide key performance indicators (KPIs) and comparing them between the sites is too difficult, and sometimes not necessary. It is incredible to use MPC/DMC onstream time as a performance measure to evaluate the control system. There are many examples that demonstrate a controller showing high onstream time, but the process operating performance is very bad. The company will still use the controller because the superintendents want to have a higher number. Performance evaluation and benefit analysis are very necessary, and professional team should do this task. • It is vital to track process critical variables (cpk or process capability.) The critical variables can be defined as CV in MPC, and/or something like energy efficiency or production recovery. This kind of performance is absolutely standard and can be easily compared between different sites for different purposes. MPC is very attractive for some process engineers, but it is losing attention from many aspects (theory, modeling, cost, practical performance, maintenance, software itself ). It is time for industry to have a revolution in APC; we need a controloriented package. MPC can be embedded in the DCS, if needed. A judicious, intelligent-supervisory control system package will emerge soon; this will be the new era of APC. Supervisory control. It is a general term for controlling many individual controllers or control loops; a supervisory

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I 83

PROCESS CONTROL control scheme offers the prospect of process optimization and human operation intelligence. It is expected that the supervisory control package will provide more powerful functions and feasible supervisory algorithms. More important, it will provide the platform for users to develop user algorithm or functions, such as a material/energy balance model, fuzzy logic, neural network, genetic algorithm, optimization algorithm, decouple model, feedforward compensation, etc. MPC may be embedded into the supervisory system, but it will provide more modeling tools and model math expression. It will be a function block like a PID controller, just needing a few parameters for the user; No special software training is necessary.

application of next-generation APC is definitely attractive and promising for industry. HP 1 2 3 4 5

LITERATURE CITED Ford, J., “Jim Ford’s views on advanced process control,” Hydrocarbon Processing, November 2006, pp.19–20. Friedman, Y. Z., “What happened to simple useful APC techniques?,” Hydrocarbon Processing, March 2008, p. 126. Hugo, A., “Limitations of model predictive controllers,” Hydrocarbon Processing, January 2000, pp. 83–88. Ford, J., “APC: A status report—the patient is still breathing!” White Paper from APC website. Kern, A. G., “Outlook for multivariable predictive control,” Hydrocarbon Processing, October 2008, p. 33.

IN SUMMARY

The automation technology is widely applied in a multitude of different industries. An extension of advanced control technology is an emerging advanced technology. The bottom-line driver for applying the advanced technology is its widely demonstrated capability to improve process performance; reduce costs for equipment and maintenance; and increase system stability, reliability and the capability of system fault tolerance. APC design and implementation is state-of-the-art in modern control engineering, and is full of challenges both in theory and practice. After several decades of APC applications, it is time for control engineers, both in industries and academies to think about how to use it correctly and efficiently; to pave the path for its next direction; and, more important, move forward to the development and conception. But, the development and

Dr. Jin Wang is working in the development of advanced control, system optimization and process improvement at Nalco Co. He holds BS and MS degrees, and a PhD in process control and industrial instrumentation with first class honors from Northeastern University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He held assistant professor position in the chemical engineering department of West Virginia University Institute of Technology, and research position at Carnegie Mellon University. He joined industry as a senior control engineer and engineering scientist for Lyondell and PPG Inc. He is a professional in advanced control engineering. Dr. Wang’s major interests include advanced process control, modeling, optimization, measurement system, robust and adaptive nonlinear control, intelligent control systems, nonlinear output regulation, with special emphasis on process improvement applications to refinery, petrochemical/chemical, metallurgical, power and other fields. He has authored over 20 reference journal papers and 40 conference papers. Dr. Wang is the senior member of IEEE, Control System Society and a senior member of ISA.

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ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES

Case 63: Analyzing off resonance amplitudes It is important to know the amplitudes of vibration away from resonance T. SOFRONAS, Consulting Engineer, Houston, Texas

esonance or the critical speed describes the condition at which the force action, torque or moment is the same as the resonance frequency or speed at which resonance occurs. When this “sameness” happens, large amplitudes can develop. Often, the system is designed away from this resonance point. Here is a case where a vibration developed and a quick look at the critical speed was desired. Fig. 1 shows the simple rotor of a steam turbine; the rotor was lumped into a single mass system. The first bending critical speed or natural frequency of such a simply supported shaft, and whose mode shape is shown by the dashed line, is:

fn = 1,300 ⫻ (E ⫻ I /(W ⫻ L3) ) ⁄ cycles/min or rev/min 1

For a solid shaft, D (in inches) can be defined as: FIG. 1

I = (π /64 ) ⫻ D 4 in.4

Lumped single mass rotor.

The magnifier of a system at resonance is defined as: M = resonant amplitude / static deflection (Y ).

r 2 )2

0.010 0.009 0.008 0.007 Amplitude, in.

The static deflection, Y, of the dashed curve in Fig. 1 is simply the amount of shaft deflection at the center that occurs due to the exciting force, applied very slowly. At resonance, this point becomes X amplitude, and the off resonance is Xf . There has to be an exciting force exciting the critical. So, in this case, it could be an unbalance that rotates at shaft speed. The resonance curve takes the form:1 1 r 2/M 2 ) ⁄2

0.005 0.004 0.003

Xf = Y (( 1 – + where r = operating speed / speed resonance occurs and at r = 1, X = Y ⫻M

0.002 0.001 0.000 0

Example. Consider the case where Y = 0.001 in., L = 38 in.,

D = 4 in., W = 200 lbs, E = 30 ⫻ 106 lb/in.2 and, from experience, M = 10. The curve can be drawn as Fig. 2, where fn is calculated as 7,620 rpm. This indicates why it is important to design systems at least 20% above or below the critical speed. For example, if the operating speed range was 0 to 6,000 rpm, then there would be ample margin from the critical speed at 7,620 rpm. Note: If the equivalent shaft length increases, which could be possible with the loosening of a hub fit, then the critical speed could be lower and could possibly move into the operating range. For example, if the shaft was 40 in. long instead of 38 in., then resonance would occur at 7,055 rpm. This type of sensitivity analysis on variables is something that can be considered when troubleshooting a system for excessive vibration. HP

0.006

FIG. 2

5,000

10,000 Rpm/1,000

15,000

20,000

Amplitude Xf of vibration at various speeds.

LITERATURE CITED Sofronas, A., Analytical Troubleshooting of Process Machinery and Pressure Vessels: Including Real-World Case Studies, John Wiley & Sons, p. 125.

Dr. Tony Sofronas, P.E., was worldwide lead mechanical engineer for ExxonMobil before his retirement. Information on his books, seminars and consulting, as well as comments to this article, are available at http://mechanicalengineeringhelp.com.

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ADVERTISERS in this issue of HYDROCARBON PROCESSING Company Website

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RS#

Company Website

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Gulf Coast Turnaround Showcase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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Rentech Boiler System . . . . . . . . . . 2

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Emerson Process Management (DeltaV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(78)

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HPI Marketplace . . . . . . . . . 86–88

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Dresser-Rand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Merichem Company . . . . . . . . . . 10

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Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Corp 33

(61)

Events—IRPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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Greene, Tweed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

RS#

Merichem Company . . . . . . . . . . 53 (164) (72)

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Beta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 (166)

cippe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

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Foster Wheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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Bonney Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

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Flexitallic LP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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155

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I 89

HPIN CONTROL ALLAN KERN, GUEST COLUMNIST Allan.Kern@yahoo.com

Lose the pyramid (and find process control success)

Losing the pyramid. The traditional pyramid paradigm, with APC prominently at its center, served well to initially focus industry on this promising technology. But the situation we find ourselves in today is an over-emphasis on APC on the one hand, even as it continues to exhibit intractable limitations on the other hand, such as: • Traditional control-loop design is the product of experience, not the lack of APC. Some “handles” are suitable for closed-loop control, but the majority are not, given the realities of industrial process and equipment operation. Most APCs are built on the opposite assumption that including all handles and interactions is optimal, and as a result, quickly devolve online, in hours or days, not months or years, to utilizing basically the same limited number of handles that were in use before APC ever came along. This is the well known “clamped MV” problem. • The APC algorithm is a good algorithm, but it is only one algorithm. DCSs have hundreds of algorithm function blocks that are readily combined in myriad ways to deliver smartly tailored solutions to almost any control or automation challenge. And again, the DCS function set is no accident—it derives from a long tradition of process control success. • APC is the enemy of agility. It is in vogue now, as it should be, to treat process plants as manufacturing plants, where agility is better understood to be essential. But the business and engineering model of APC, with its five-year life cycle, interim inflexibility and high cost of changes, is entirely at odds with the concept of agility. Finding success. A fresh paradigm will help the process con-

trol community get past APC and get on with the business of process control and automation. Fig. 1 shows one possibility. It’s a “working paradigm” in that it serves not only as a point of depar90

I JULY 2011 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

100 Percent contributions

Potential contribution Portion captured

75 50 25

Modern SIS

Inferentials

Alarm mgt.

HMI design

Smart control*

Smart ﬁeld

Modern DCS

Most people would classify multi-variable control—or advanced process control (APC)—over the past 20 years as a “slam dunk” in terms of process control, automation and optimization success. But it can also be viewed, quite plausibly, as a major diversion that derailed the modern distributed control system (DCS) from achieving its natural place at the center of process control and automation progress. In the process, vast amounts of time, money and talent have been diverted from much more essential process control needs, in favor of APC’s much over-estimated benefits. As industry comes to terms with the idea that APC may be just another tool in the kit, rather than a game-changing technology, it will help the process control community to find renewed traction and move forward if we adopt a fresh paradigm based on the lessons we have learned, because a world of control and automation opportunities remain, but they are not going to come from APC.

*Includes APC, ARC, and “Best Practice” Regulatory Controls

FIG. 1

Proposed new process control paradigm emphasizes multiple essential competencies and serves as a working guide at both management and engineering levels.

■ A fresh paradigm will help process

control get renewed traction, because a world of opportunity remains, but it’s not going to come from APC. ture for process control planning, but also to measure and guide progress at both management and engineering levels. It shows the potential contribution of multiple essential process control competencies and the portion that has actually been captured. The first bar, something we are all familiar with (a modern DCS), provides a reference value for the others. For example, smart-field devices have the potential to bring as much additional improvement as the original DCS (another 100%). The percentages in Fig. 1 are overall industry estimates, but each corporation and plant site can put in their own numbers and appropriate competencies. Notably, huge opportunity remains untapped in the smart field, smart DCS control, and smart safety system areas. Far from being done, process control and automation are just getting started! HP The author is a principal consultant in advanced process control and online optimization with Petrocontrol. He specializes in the use of first-principles models for inferential and has developed a numberand of distillation and numerreactor The authorprocess has 30control years of process control experience has authored

models. Dr. Friedman’s experience overdecision 30 yearssupport in the hydrocarbon industry, ous papers on advanced process spans control, systems, inferentials, working with Exxon Research Engineering, KBC Advanced Technology and since and distillation control, with and emphasis on operation and practical process control 1992 with Petrocontrol. a BS degree from the Israel member Institute of effectiveness. Mr. KernHe is aholds professional engineer, a senior of Technology ISA, and a (Technion)ofand PhD degree from Purdue University. graduate theaUniversity of Wyoming.

Select 98 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION

Asset Management ............................................................4 Budgeting, Capital Allocation and Planning ...................7 Business Integration ..........................................................7 Exploration ..........................................................................8 Field and Data Capture......................................................8 Production Accounting .................................................... 10 Regulatory Compliance ................................................... 10 Risk Management ..............................................................11 Training ...............................................................................12

Data Management ........................................................... 34 Data Visualization ........................................................... 34 Dynamic Simulation and Optimization ..........................37 Process Control and Information Systems.................. 38 SIS/Safety Systems ........................................................ 39

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Alarm Management ...........................................................16 Energy Management .........................................................16 Enterprise Operations Management ............................. 19 Equipment Reliability Database ................................... 20 Fluid Flow Analysis ......................................................... 20 Online Monitoring and Optimization ............................ 23 Operations .........................................................................24 Planning, Scheduling and Blending .............................. 25 Plant Lifecycle and Performance Monitoring ............. 26 Predictive Maintenance and Repair ............................. 28 Process Solutions and Equipment Provider ................ 30 Reﬁning, Petrochemical and Gas Processing ............. 30 Security Services .............................................................33

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING Collaboration and Knowledge Capture ........................ 42 Design, Construction and Engineering ........................ 42 Laboratory Testing R&D................................................. 46 Pilot Plant Support .......................................................... 46 Process Engineering and Simulation ........................... 46 Process Hazards Analysis.............................................. 49 Well Log Data Access and Management ..................... 50

ADVERTISING INDEX Display Advertisers ......................................................... 50 Published by

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ASSET MANAGEMENT

Intergraph Corporation 19 Interpro Road Madison, AL 35758, USA Phone: 800-345-4856 www.intergraph.com

Intertek 801 Travis Street, Suite 1500 Houston, TX 77002, USA Phone: 713-407-3500 Contact: Erik Holladay, Global Marketing Director E-mail: testingservices@intertek.com www.intertek.com Company Bio: Intertek supports the global petroleum refining, petrochemical, and oil and gas exploration and production industries with world-class testing, inspection, engineering and consulting services. With operations in over 100 nations, Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise to help clients improve quality and reduce risk and costs. Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Refined Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Refinery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125 4

Merrick Systems, Inc. 55 Waugh Drive, Suite 400 Houston, TX 77007, USA Phone: 713-579-3400 Fax: 713-579-3499 Contact: Faisal Kidwai, VP Sales E-mail: Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com; Info@MerrickSystems.com www.MerrickSystems.com Company Bio: Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most robust software and hardware solutions addressing production operations, engineering and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry expertise, Merrick has pioneered innovative technologies in the oil field to help companies extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or hosted Software as a Service (SaaS), include mobile computing for field and drilling operations, real-time surveillance and optimization; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: Merrick’s RFID-Based Asset Tracking System enables you to track and maintain any surface, subsea and downhole oilfield asset. The system is comprised of patented, ruggedized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, software and electronics, providing vital information about operational assets used in drilling and production operations. Configurability and a modular design allow the system to address specific operational requirements for managing any type of asset, including high-value items like drill pipe, risers, collars and much more. Merrick’s RFID Diamond TagsTM are the first High-Pressure High-Temperature tags in the market, proven to survive sustained extreme temperatures (400°F/200°C), pressures (2,070 bar/30,000 psi), vibration, corrosion and shock. The tags are used for tracking assets even under harsh operational conditions and have been nominated for several prestigious awards, including the SME Innovation Award from Offshore Northern Seas (ONS), and the Innovation Award from the Energy Institute. Merrick’s web-based DynaCap software platform used to manage asset data is highly configurable, allowing users to capture any information needed, including inspections, certifications, specifications, usage history, location and more. Utilizing industry-standard rugged mobile computers for field and rig operations, DynaCap works in both connected or disconnected modes to provide critical asset details

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

even in remote locations with limited connectivity. Licensed or hosted by Merrick Software as a Service (SaaS), DynaCap offers significant savings, increased operational efficiency and improved safety while managing valuable oilfield assets. Currently redeveloped in Microsoft’s Silverlight platform, DynaCap will integrate with other ERP systems such as Maximo, SAP and others to provide a corporate solution for your asset management needs. www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

Metegrity, a Met Inc. division 5715 – 76 Avenue Edmonton, AB, T6B0A7, Canada Phone: 780-485-8500 www.visions-enterprise.com

Quest Integrity Group, LLC 2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com Company Bio: Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate, technology-enabled inspection and assessment solutions that help companies in the process, pipeline and power industries increase profitability, reduce operational and safety risks, and improve operational planning. The company is built upon a foundation of leadingedge science and technology that has innovated and shaped industries for nearly forty years. Products: Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-forService and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed and rotating equipment. It implements the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and performs crack assessments in accordance with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk

ReďŹ nery Ready. Expert Services for the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Petroleum and Chemical Industries. o o o o o o o o o o o

Asset Integrity Management Corrosion Control Catalyst & Pilot Plant Technologies Cargo Inspection & Testing Laboratory Support & Expertise Quality Control Testing Research and Development Support Engineering Services Troubleshooting and Forensic Expertise Pre-inspection and Vendor Surveillance Green and Environmental Services

Valued Quality. Delivered. Contact Intertek for more information: USA +1 281 971 5600

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and ﬁtness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modiﬁed and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

SKF 5271 Viewridge Ct. San Diego, CA 92123, USA Phone: 858-496-3400 www.skf.com/reliability

Spiral Software Ltd St. Andrew’s House St. Andrew’s Road Cambridge, CB4 1DL, UK Phone: +44 (0)1223 445 000 Fax: +44 (0)1223 445 001 Spiral also has consultants based across the US—in Houston, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Weston, Connecticut. E-mail: sales@spiralsoft.com www.spiralsoft.com Company Bio: Spiral Software specializes in tools for helping companies make the best decisions in trading and refining crude oil. Over 60% of refiners rely on Spiral’s tools as a key part of their work processes. Successful implementations include four oil majors, with a broad user community spanning trading and supply, planning and scheduling, feedstock inventory, and operations. Products: Spiral Software offers a fully-integrated suite of tools to support feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization. Applications include: • Enterprise crude oil knowledge management • Integrated planning and scheduling • Crude oil assay management • Feedstock ranking and evaluation • Crude blend optimization All of the tools are built on a common data model, with version and data management control, and accessible through parallel desktop and web interfaces. This allows users in every area to share appropriate data and models, 6

and maintain business alignment and communicate conclusions eﬃciently. Industry-leading assay libraries from Shell and Chevron are available for use in conjunction with the software tools. CrudeManager CrudeManager is a powerful tool for managing and manipulating crude oil information. Its unique features and Spiral’s expertise in implementing these solutions have made it the assay management solution of choice across the industry. CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time. Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions. www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

Yokogawa Electric Corp. World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Yokogawa Corp. of America 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

Yokogawa Europe B.V. Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD. 22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 Company Bio: Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North American division of $3.4 billion Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture and supply of instrumentation, process control, automation services and solutions. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Yokogawa Corporation of America offers a variety of clients with leading products on the market such as process analyzers, flowmeters, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition products, measuring instruments, distributed control systems and more. Products: PRM™—Plant Resource Manager (PRM) is a real-time instrument device maintenance and management software package that provides a platform for advanced instrument diagnostics. PRM is an integrated software solution that unifies the monitored data from intelligent and non-intelligent field devices running within Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP and STARDOM control systems or as a stand-alone solution. The key feature of PRM is that it provides easy access to automatically collected data from field networks such as Foundation Fieldbus, HART and ISA100.11a wireless, allowing integration, management and maintenance of these devices using a common database. PRM provides integrated plant and device performance data, maintenance records, audit trails, device configuration with auto-device detection, historic data management, parameter comparison, advanced device diagnostics information and access to online documentation such as device drawings, parts list and manuals in a client server architecture that provides information to multiple users within a plant facility. It provides the ability to adjust the parameters of intelligent devices online and allows comparison of the current data to historical data of a device. Fieldmate™—FieldMate™ is an asset management software developed for portable laptop computers that provides configuration and maintenance of intelligent field devices. Fieldmate™ supports the use of open interface Field Device Tool (FDT) technology to facilitate the configuration and adjustment of field devices such as sensors and valves at production sites, regardless of the manufacturer or the communication protocols. Fieldmate™ also supports Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) interface technology. With its device navigation and device maintenance information management features, this software relieves users of the difficulties of deal-

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time.

ing with a variety of communication protocols and configuration methods from multiple manufacturers that use different configurators and/or multiple configuration procedures

Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions.

www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

BUDGETING, CAPITAL ALLOCATION AND PLANNING

3ESI #200, 1601 Westmount Road, N.W. Calgary, Alberta T2N 3M2, Canada Phone: 403-270-3270 www.3esi.com

www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

Company Bio: Spiral Software specializes in tools for helping companies make the best decisions in trading and refining crude oil. Over 60% of refiners rely on Spiral’s tools as a key part of their work processes. Successful implementations include four oil majors, with a broad user community spanning trading and supply, planning and scheduling, feedstock inventory, and operations. Products: Spiral Software offers a fully-integrated suite of tools to support feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization. Applications include: • Enterprise crude oil knowledge management • Integrated planning and scheduling • Crude oil assay management • Feedstock ranking and evaluation • Crude blend optimization All of the tools are built on a common data model, with version and data management control, and accessible through parallel desktop and web interfaces. This allows users in every area to share appropriate data and models, and maintain business alignment and communicate conclusions efficiently. Industry-leading assay libraries from Shell and Chevron are available for use in conjunction with the software tools. CrudeManager CrudeManager is a powerful tool for managing and manipulating crude oil information. Its unique features and Spiral’s expertise in implementing these solutions have made it the assay management solution of choice across the industry. CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude

BUSINESS INTEGRATION

ENSYTE Energy Software, Int’l., Inc. 770 S. Post Oak Lane, Suite 330 Houston, TX 77056, USA Phone: 713-622-2875 www.ENSYTE.com

m:pro IT Consult GmbH Kirchgasse 47 65183 Wiesbaden, Germany Phone: 49-611-398430 www.mpro-it.com

PETRIS 1900 St. James Place, Suite 700 Houston, TX 77056, USA Phone: 713-956-2165 www.petris.com

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT in trading and refining crude oil. Over 60% of refiners rely on Spiral’s tools as a key part of their work processes. Successful implementations include four oil majors, with a broad user community spanning trading and supply, planning and scheduling, feedstock inventory, and operations. Products: Spiral Software offers a fully-integrated suite of tools to support feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization. Applications include: • Enterprise crude oil knowledge management • Integrated planning and scheduling • Crude oil assay management • Feedstock ranking and evaluation • Crude blend optimization All of the tools are built on a common data model, with version and data management control, and accessible through parallel desktop and web interfaces. This allows users in every area to share appropriate data and models, and maintain business alignment and communicate conclusions efficiently. Industry-leading assay libraries from Shell and Chevron are available for use in conjunction with the software tools. CrudeManager CrudeManager is a powerful tool for managing and manipulating crude oil information. Its unique features and Spiral’s expertise in implementing these solutions have made it the assay management solution of choice across the industry. CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time. Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions. www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

EXPLORATION

Gulf Publishing Company PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft Company Bio: Gulf Publishing Company’s Software Division publishes and distributes more than 40 desktop applications designed specifically for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: PePac 1 consists of 20 reservoir engineering programs written in Basic and three economic evaluation spreadsheets. The 20 reservoir engineering programs are linked through one master menu and five main menus. However, each program is self-contained and can be used independently. The programs in this package are selected for their usefulness in day-to-day operations that fall into six main categories: • PVT properties for oil, water and gas • Reservoir engineering • Natural gas engineering • Economic evaluation • Transient well test analysis • Waterflood design calculations The three economic programs are: • A utility spreadsheet to create cash-flow summaries • An oil and gas economic evaluation • An international production—sharing agreement cash-flow model

Paradigm Two Memorial Plaza 820 Gessner, Suite. 400 Houston, TX 77024, USA Phone: 713-393-4800 www.PDGM.com

FIELD AND DATA CAPTURE

Merrick Systems, Inc. 55 Waugh Drive, Suite 400 Houston, TX 77007, USA Phone: 713-579-3400 Fax: 713-579-3499

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Contact: Faisal Kidwai, VP Sales E-mail: Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com; Info@MerrickSystems.com www.MerrickSystems.com Company Bio: Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most robust software and hardware solutions addressing production operations, engineering and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry expertise, Merrick has pioneered innovative technologies in the oil field to help companies extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or hosted Software as a Service (SaaS), include mobile computing for field and drilling operations, real-time surveillance and optimization; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: eVIN is the premier mobile field data capture and operations management software solution for the upstream oil and gas industry. Superior configurability allows eVIN to gather any type of data in a single source and keep everyone in the company on the same page. Used in 20% of all oil and gas wells in the US by more than 3,500 field operators, eVIN can handle the unique challenges of unconventional plays such as gas or oily shale, coalbed methane, waterfloods and CO2. It also includes special screens and data to allow companies to capture events needed for the EPA mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting. eVIN enables field operators to do quick data entry, automated field calculations and data validation conveniently, without disrupting other work. Operators can easily sort formatted data to match their workflows. With a proven track record of fast and easy data transfers from the field 24/7, eVIN is designed to meet field operation needs anywhere in the world. Its superior error checking and configurability enable users to capture more high-quality data using a configurable, cost-effective, easy-to-use and easyto-deploy solution. Pioneering the use of mobile computing in oil and gas field operations for two decades, eVIN was originally designed to work in areas of low bandwidth. Currently redeveloped in Microsoft’s Silverlight platform, eVIN will be made available on Windows phone 7, Windows Slate PC and as a web-based solution, accessible anywhere, anytime. Merrick’s RFID-Based Asset Tracking System allows you to track and maintain any surface, subsea and downhole oilfield asset. The system is comprised of patented, ruggedized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, software and electronics, providing vital information about operational assets used in drilling and production operations. Configu-

omputing hydrocarbon accounting field operations management asset manageme ld data capture hydrocarbon accounting reporting rugged RFID tags RFID tags asset management system mobile computing field data capture ture hydrocarbon accounting reporting field operations management ged RFID tags asset management system mobile computing rugged RFID tags ent field data capture rugged RFID tags hydrocarbon accounting accounting petrotechnical data management mobile computing field data rocarbon accounting reporting rugged RFID tags reporting asset managemen RFID tags asset management system mobile computing hydrocarbon accoun rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags reporti management mobile computing hydrocarbon accounting field op agement apture asset management system reporting field operations field operations management mobile computing rugged RFID tags hydrocarb rotechnical data management field data capture mobile computing repor omputing hydrocarbon accounting field operations management asset manage rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags management mobile computing hydrocarbon accounting field operations m ure hydrocarbon accounting reporting field operations management ged RFID tags asset management system mobile computing Rugged reporting ent field data capture rugged RFID tags hydrocarbon accounting rugge accounting petrotechnical data management mobile computing field data ure asset management system reporting field operations management field operations management mobile computing Rugged hydrocarbon a rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags reporting omputing hydrocarbon accounting field operations management asset manageme ld data capture hydrocarbon accounting reporting rugged RFID tags RFID tags asset management system mobile computing field data capture ture hydrocarbon accounting reporting field operations management ged RFID tags asset management system mobile computing rugged RFID tags ent field data capture rugged RFID tags hydrocarbon accounting accounting petrotechnical data management mobile computing field data rocarbon accounting reporting rugged RFID tags reporting asset managemen RFID tags asset management system mobile computing hydrocarbon accoun rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags reporti management mobile computing hydrocarbon accounting field op agement apture asset management system reporting field operations field operations management mobile computing rugged RFID tags rotechnical data management field data capture mobile computing repor omputing hydrocarbon accounting field operations management asset manage rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags management mobile computing hydrocarbon accounting field operations m ure hydrocarbon accounting reporting field operations management ged RFID tags asset management system mobile computing Rugged reporting ent field data capture rugged RFID tags hydrocarbon accounting rugge accounting petrotechnical data management mobile computing field data ure asset management system reporting field operations management field operations management mobile computing rugged hydrocarbon a rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags reporting omputing hydrocarbon accounting field operations management asset manageme ld data capture hydrocarbon accounting reporting rugged RFID tags RFID tags asset management system mobile computing field data capture ture hydrocarbon accounting reporting field operations management ged RFID tags asset management system mobile computing rugged RFID tags ent field data capture rugged RFID tags hydrocarbon accounting accounting petrotechnical data management mobile computing field data rocarbon accounting reporting rugged RFID tags reporting asset managemen RFID tags asset management system mobile computing hydrocarbon accoun rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags reporti management mobile computing hydrocarbon accounting field op agement apture asset management system reporting field operations field operations management mobile computing rugged RFID tags rotechnical data management field data capture mobile computing repor omputing hydrocarbon accounting field operations management asset manage 55 Waugh Drive, Suite 400 | Houston, Texas, USA 77007 | +1.713.579.3400 rotechnical data management field data capture rugged RFID tags Select 131 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS management mobile computing hydrocarbon accounting field operations m

mobility solutions for field and drilling operations data storage, management and visualization

rugged RFID for drilling asset management

real time surveillance and optimization hydrocarbon production accounting

field operations management

field data capture

energizing technology for the business of oil and gas

www.MerrickSystems.com

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT rability and a modular design allow the system to address specific operational requirements for managing any type of asset, including high-value items like drill pipe, risers, collars and much more. Merrick’s RFID Diamond TagsTM are the first High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) tags in the market, proven to survive sustained extreme temperatures (400°F/200°C), pressures (2,070 bar/30,000 psi), vibration, corrosion and shock. The tags are used for tracking assets even under harsh operational conditions and have been nominated for several prestigious awards, including the SME Innovation Award from Offshore Northern Seas (ONS), and the Innovation Award from the Energy Institute. Merrick’s web-based DynaCap software platform used to manage asset data is highly configurable, allowing users to capture any information needed, including inspections, certifications, specifications, usage history, location and more. Utilizing industry-standard rugged mobile computers for field and rig operations, DynaCap works in both connected or disconnected modes to provide critical asset details even in remote locations with limited connectivity. Licensed or hosted by Merrick Software as a Service (SaaS), DynaCap offers significant savings, increased operational efficiency and improved safety while managing valuable oilfield assets. www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING

tion; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: ProCount is Merrick’s robust hydrocarbon accounting solution, providing precise daily and monthly allocations for enterprises of every scale. From the simplest to the most complex allocations, including multi-tier, multi-directional flow, ProCount accommodates both domestic and international use, with the accuracy critical for regulatory compliance, partner accounting and better engineering and asset management. ProCount helps to manage the unique challenges of unconventional plays such as gas or oily shale, coalbed methane, waterfloods and CO2. Allocating volumes in near-real time, it allows you to accurately account for production, fuel use, gas lift, liquid inventories and sales. Carte is a web-based oil and gas production reporting dashboard that enables you to view, graph and export daily and monthly oil and gas production trends by a single well, field or entire asset. Providing a critical window into operations, Carte gives immediate access to key production data, helping to monitor performance, make decisions based on better information and allowing the company as a whole to react faster to production problems and opportunities. Combined, ProCount and Carte provide each department in your organization, from land through accounting, engineering, field operations and marketing to management, the specific information they require, in an easy to digest format, ensuring that your business is running more efficiently. ProCount and Carte allow you to monitor your new wells as they move from drilling to completion, and run comparative KPI’s across all wells, easily managing massive volumes of production data and fast-paced operations. Currently redeveloped in Microsoft’s Silverlight platform, additions to the system will include improved mapping and navigator capabilities. www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

40 desktop applications designed speciﬁcally for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: Pipeline Risk Controller, Version 2.0, is a program that might change how you operate or design your pipeline systems. Using risk management concepts, Pipeline Risk Controller allows you to divide your pipeline system(s) into sections, gather meaningful data on each section, and assess the risks of each section, providing signiﬁcantly more economic value than other software solutions. A perfect tool for pipeline risk management program for operators addressing regulatory and reporting requirements. Features: • Find your highest (and lowest) risk areas—then prioritize your maintenance • Measure the impact of changing conditions along the pipeline, such as population encroachments • Measure the impact of changing pressure, product or any activity (do “what-if studies”) • Decide how to best allocate your capital resources • Monitor regulatory compliance (or build your own benchmark comparison standard) • Analyze pipelines before they are built • Compare pipeline route alternatives

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Pilot Plant Project Support Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing Reﬁned Petroleum Products Testing Petrochemical Products Testing Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation E and P Core Analysis Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise Regulatory Compliance Support Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance Dimensional Control Engineering Forensic Investigations Vendor Inspection and Auditing Pipeline, Reﬁnery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/

LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and ﬁtness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modiﬁed and API 579.

Features include: • Reports for production, well test and injection filings • Flexible filing options with electronic filing and hard-copy reports including PDF format • Automatic handling of prior period adjustments (PPA) • Each state module generates stateagency-approved digital filings • Catch problems and generate error reports for identifying potential issues before filing with the state.

www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

RISK MANAGEMENT

www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

Intertek Quest Integrity Group, LLC

2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com Company Bio: Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate, technology-enabled inspection and assessment solutions that help companies in the process, pipeline and power industries increase profitability, reduce operational and safety risks, and improve operational planning. The company is built upon a foundation of leadingedge science and technology that has innovated and shaped industries for nearly forty years. Products: Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-forService and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed and rotating equipment. It implements the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and performs crack assessments in accordance with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management.

801 Travis Street, Suite 1500 Houston, TX 77002, USA Phone: 713-407-3500 Contact: Erik Holladay, Global Marketing Director E-mail: testingservices@intertek.com www.intertek.com Company Bio: Intertek supports the global petroleum refining, petrochemical, and oil and gas exploration and production industries with world-class testing, inspection, engineering and consulting services. With operations in over 100 nations, Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise to help clients improve quality and reduce risk and costs. Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Refined Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Refinery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 11

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time.

Quest Integrity Group, LLC

Spiral Software Ltd

2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com

St. Andrew’s House St. Andrew’s Road Cambridge, CB4 1DL, UK Phone: +44 (0)1223 445 000 Fax: +44 (0)1223 445 001 Spiral also has consultants based across the US—in Houston, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Weston, Connecticut. E-mail: sales@spiralsoft.com www.spiralsoft.com

Company Bio: Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate, technology-enabled inspection and assessment solutions that help companies in the process, pipeline and power industries increase profitability, reduce operational and safety risks, and improve operational planning. The company is built upon a foundation of leadingedge science and technology that has innovated and shaped industries for nearly forty years. Products: Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-forService and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed and rotating equipment. It implements the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and performs crack assessments in accordance with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and fitness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modified and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

TRAINING

Complete Data Assessment LifeQuestâ&#x201E;¢ Heater t .PEFMT % DSBDLT JO NJOVUFT t " QSPWFO QSBDUJDBM TPMVUJPO EFWFMPQFE CZ GSBDUVSF NFDIBOJDT FYQFSUT

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LifeQuestâ&#x201E;¢ Reformer

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Custom crack

Local metal loss thickness data

www.QuestIntegrity.com | ph: +1 303-415-1475

Select 132 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Xfh®—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters. Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and box heaters and the convection section of fired heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and performs combustion calculations. Xhpe®—Designs, rates, and simulates the performance of hairpin heat exchangers. Xist®—Designs, rates and simulates singleand two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, including kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, falling film evaporators and reflux condensers. Xjpe®—Designs, rates and simulates jacketed-pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. Xphe®—Designs, rates and simulates plateand-frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental program, Xphe calculates each plate channel individually using local physical properties and process conditions. Xspe®—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral plate heat exchangers. Xtlo®—Graphical standalone rigorous tube layout software; also integrated with Xist. Xvib®—Performs flow-induced vibration analysis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. It handles various geometries and uses rigorous structural analysis to calculate the tube natural frequencies for various modes. Xchanger Suite® Educational—Customized version of Xchanger Suite with the capability to design, rate and simulate shell-and-tube heat exchangers, air coolers, economizers and plateand-frame heat exchangers. It is available to educational institutions only. R-trend®—Calculates and trends fouling resistances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in single-phase service. It uses Microsoft Excel as a working environment with an optional link to Xist. www.info.hotims.com/38647-127

India C-1, First Floor, Tower-B “Indraprasth Complex” Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North) Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India Phone: 91-982-514-7775 Contact: Rajan Desai, International Coordinator E-mail: HTRI.India@HTRI.net Company Bio: HTRI operates an international consortium founded in 1962 that conducts industrially relevant research and provides software tools for design, rating and simulation of process heat transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide range of technical publications and provides other services including contract research, software development, consulting and training. Products: HTRI Xchanger Suite®—Integrated graphical user environment for the design, rating and simulation of heat transfer equipment. Xace®—Designs, rates and simulates the performance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat recovery units and air preheaters. 14

Company Bio: KBC Advanced Technologies provides software and services to the global energy industries. KBC’s suite of software includes process simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC offers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. Use of KBC models in training allows your staff to examine the cause and effect of process parameters and evaluate the response of a unit. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. They include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances. www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

Vector Graphics Inc. KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com Other KBC Office Locations: London Phone: + 44 (0)1932 242424 Singapore Phone: + 65 6735 5488

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

856 Kaliste Saloom Road, Suite A Lafayette, LA 70508, USA Phone: 337-269-9965 www.vgionline.com

Where do You want to be on the Performance Curve?

KBC’s software leads you to NextGen Performance: KBC SOFTWARE CAN ENABLE IMPROVEMENTS FOR UP TO

PROCESS SIMULATION SOFTWARE U Petro-SIM

U US

$1/bbl through more effective decisions for reﬁners

Express for process simulation

U Petro-SIM™ U Petro-SIM

Dynamics for dynamic process simulation

U US

$50/tonne margin improvement for petrochemical operators

U FCC-SIM™

U 3%

- 5% IRR improvement on projects (detailed feasibility and FEED)

U REF-SIM

™

U HCR-SIM

for ﬂuid catalytic cracking

for catalytic reforming

™

ENERGY OPTIMISATION SOFTWARE U SuperTarget™

HTR-SIM™, D HTR-SIM™, VGO HTR-SIM™ for hydrotreating

for pinch analysis

for fuel, steam, power and system modelling and optimisation

U Persimmon™ U KBC

for minimising water consumption

for heat exchanger fouling monitoring

CarbonManager™ for carbon emissions

WEB-BASED DATA DISPLAY SOFTWARE U Babelﬁsh™

from ISS for web-based real-time display

for hydrocracking

U ProSteam™

U WaterTarget™

for reﬁnery-wide process simulation

U DC-SIM™

for delayed coking

U VIS-SIM™

for visbreaking and thermal cracking

For more information contact us at:

U ALK-SIM™

for alkylation

AMERICAS +1 281 293 8200 EMEA +44 (0)1932 242424 ASIA +65 6735 5488 answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com

U RHDS-SIM™

for residue hydrotreating

U AROM-SIM™

for aromatics

U ISOM-SIM™

for isomerisation

U Oleﬁn-SIM™

for pyrolysis

Select 136 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ALARM MANAGEMENT

Yokogawa Electric Corp. exida 64 North Main Street Sellersville, PA 18960, USA Phone: 215-453-1720 Fax: 215-257-1657 Contact: Todd Stauﬀer, Director of Alarm Management E-mail: tstauﬀer@exida.com; info@exida.com www.exida.com

World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Yokogawa Corp. of America 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

Yokogawa Europe B.V.

Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Products: SILAlarm™ is a tool for facilitating the alarm rationalization process and documenting the results in a master alarm database. It guides a rationalization team through a systematic process of reviewing, justifying and documenting the design of each alarm, ensuring compliance with a corporate or site alarm philosophy document. It supports data exchange with new (greenfield) and existing (brownfield) control systems via import/export to MS Excel. Developed in accordance with the ISA-18.2 standard and the EEMUA 191 guideline, it can be used by novices and experts alike to reduce alarm load on the operator, eliminate nuisance alarms, prioritize alarms consistently and manage alarm floods. Alarm response procedures can be generated from the results of rationalization for seamless integration into the control system’s HMI. It allows creation of a cross-reference to HAZOP and LOPA results for proper consideration of safety-relevant alarms. Management of change functionality simplifies the rationalization progress to be tracked, reviewed and approved before implementation. Audit functionality allows the settings in SILAlarm to be compared directly with the control system.

22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 Fax: 86-21-5211-0299

www.info.hotims.com/38647-126

PAS 16055 Space Center Blvd., Suite 600 Houston, TX 77062, USA Phone: 281-286-6565 www.pas.com 16

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

neers and supervising operators to analyze DCS plant historical logs. Exaplog uses trend graphs to analyze process alarms with operator actions and provides pie charts and tables to analyze these event-type distributions. The result helps users to reduce unimportant/consequential alarms and identify and improve inefficient operation sequences. AAASuite—AAASuite is a comprehensive alarm management system that optimizes and enhances process alarms issued by control systems. AAASuite improves operator performance by minimizing nuisance alarms and providing timely notification of only necessary alarms, thereby preventing alarm flooding and enabling safe, stable and cost-effective plant operations. www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

ENERGY MANAGEMENT

EPC C N NSOFTWARE EPCON International, Inc. 9801 Westheimer Suite 1000 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 281-398-9400 Toll-free: 1-800-367-3585 Fax: 281-398-9488 Contact: Jyoti Belwal, General Sales Manager E-mail: jb@epcon.com www.EPCON.com Company Bio: EPCON Software leads the way in innovative software applications for fluid flow network analysis, equipment sizing, cost estimation, thermodynamics, physical properties and custom software engineering. Over 25,000 engineers worldwide have used EPCON Software since 1982 and currently 90% of petroleum refining companies in the Fortune 500 rely on EPCON Software each and every day. Products: If your focus is on energy savings then EPCON Software has multiple solutions just for you. Our flagship product, Engineer’s Aide SiNET, is the industry-leading fluid flow network analysis software available for the petroleum industry. Implementing Engineer’s Aide SiNET at your refinery will enable you the ability to identify flow deficiencies that directly affect production in systems such as cooling water, steam and fuel gas utility systems. Recent savings our clients have realized after utilizing Engineer’s Aide SiNET in their respected projects include a 1.4 million annual energy savings after identifying and correcting cooling tower system deficiencies. To try Engineer’s Aide SiNET free for 30 days, visit us on the web at www.EPCON.com/SiNET or call us a 1-800-367-3585.

Select 126 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT EPCON Software is also the developer and sole distributor of the API Technical Data Book, often referred to as the “Refiners Bible.” With the massive amount of data and methods for hydrocarbons and petro fractions, detailed information for 161 API physical property methods, and over 2,000 technical references and resources within the API Technical Data Book right at your fingertips, it’s easy to see how the API Technical Data Book will assist you in reducing refinery energy costs. To try the API Technical Data Book free for 30 days, visit us on the web at www.EPCON.com/APITech or call us at 1-800-367-3585

If you would like to optimize your refinery’s liquid and gas fluid flow systems, resulting in safer operations and reduced energy costs, contact us today at 1-800-551-9739 or visit us on the web at www.EPIEngineering.com.

www.info.hotims.com/38647-134

Heat Transfer Research, Inc.

E P I

Engineering

EPI Engineering, Inc. 9801 Westheimer, Suite 1070 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 832-399-9450 Toll-free: 1-800-551-9739 Fax: 713-400-1937 Contact: Corey Hensley, Account Manager E-mail: c.hensley@epiengineering.com www.EPIEngineering.com Company Bio: EPI Engineering is a specialized engineering firm focused directly on the design and optimization of any type of liquid or gas fluid flow pipeline network. Since 2001 we have conducted hundreds of projects that have saved our clients millions of dollars and we are confident we can identify significant savings for your refinery as well. Products: EPI Engineering specializes in Pipeline Network Optimization (PNO) and offers the industry’s best practices and technology to increase capacity, reliability, utilization, profitability and understanding of your refinery’s fluid flow pipeline networks. Understanding exactly how your utility systems are operating will open the door to the identification of energy saving opportunities, resulting in optimized operations of your systems. EPI Engineering has analyzed hundreds of pipeline networks over the past ten years and our clients have realized an average 10:1 ROI on our services. When EPI Engineering conducts a PNO service all existing deficiencies from original/ expansion designs and bottlenecks are identified and corrected, leading to increased safety compliance while increasing the time between refinery shutdowns due to system variability. Utility systems that EPI Engineering specializes in include, but are not limited to: cooling water systems, steam and condensate systems, fire water systems, fuel gas systems, compressed air systems and boiler feed-water systems. 18

www.info.hotims.com/38647-133

Worldwide 150 Venture Drive College Station, TX 77845, USA Phone: 979-690-5050 Fax: 979-690-3250 Contacts: Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO; Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business Development; and Greg Starks, Regional Sales Manager, USA/Canada E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net www.HTRI.net Asia-Paciﬁc Heat Transfer Research, Inc. World Business Garden Marive East 14F Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku Chiba 261-7114, Japan Phone: 81-43-297-0353 Fax: 81-43-297-0354 Contact: Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Manager E-mail: HTRI.AsiaPaciﬁc@HTRI.net EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) The Surrey Technology Centre 40 Occam Road Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG, UK Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100 Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101 Contact: Hans U. Zettler, Director of Sales, EMEA E-mail: HTRI.EMEA@HTRI.net

Products: HTRI Xchanger Suite®—Integrated graphical user environment for the design, rating and simulation of heat transfer equipment. Xace®—Designs, rates and simulates the performance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat recovery units and air preheaters. Xfh®—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters. Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and box heaters and the convection section of fired heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and performs combustion calculations. Xhpe®—Designs, rates, and simulates the performance of hairpin heat exchangers. Xist®—Designs, rates and simulates singleand two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, including kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, falling film evaporators and reflux condensers. Xjpe®—Designs, rates and simulates jacketed-pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. Xphe®—Designs, rates and simulates plateand-frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental program, Xphe calculates each plate channel individually using local physical properties and process conditions. Xspe®—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral plate heat exchangers. Xtlo®—Graphical standalone rigorous tube layout software; also integrated with Xist. Xvib®—Performs flow-induced vibration analysis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. It handles various geometries and uses rigorous structural analysis to calculate the tube natural frequencies for various modes. Xchanger Suite® Educational—Customized version of Xchanger Suite with the capability to design, rate and simulate shell-and-tube heat exchangers, air coolers, economizers and plateand-frame heat exchangers. It is available to educational institutions only. R-trend®—Calculates and trends fouling resistances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in single-phase service. It uses Microsoft Excel as a working environment with an optional link to Xist. www.info.hotims.com/38647-127

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Other KBC Office Locations: London Phone: + 44 (0)1932 242424 Singapore Phone: + 65 6735 5488

Yokogawa Corp. of America ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

MANAGEMENT

Yokogawa Europe B.V.

2110 21st Street, Suite 500 Sacramento, CA 95818, USA Phone: 800-266-7798 www.inductiveautomation.com

Products: KBC offers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization, as well as for design and feasibility studies. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. They include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages, and innovative methods to integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel, and third-party software. KBC also markets industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models including detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling. KBC Software can be accessible through multiple platforms including Excel and Babelfish, the web-enabled data visualization tool from ISS. www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

Soteica Ideas & Technology LLC 16010 Barker’s Point Lane, Suite 580 Houston, TX 77079, USA Phone: 281-829-3322 www.soteica.com

Yokogawa Electric Corp. World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Inductive Automation

Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

Oildex

Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD.

1999 Broadway, Suite 1900 Denver, CO 80202, USA Phone: 303-863-8600 Toll Free: 1-888-922-1222 Fax: 303-863-0505 E-mail: info@oildex.com www.oildex.com

22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 Company Bio: Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North American division of $3.4 billion Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture and supply of instrumentation, process control, automation services and solutions. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Yokogawa Corporation of America offers a variety of clients with leading products on the market such as process analyzers, flowmeters, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition products, measuring instruments, distributed control systems and more. Products: CombustionONETM is an energy management solution designed to improve and sustain fired heater and other combustion assets. The four corner stones of our customer’s business requirements are to increase safety, increase efficiency, lower emissions and lower life-cycle cost. Fired heaters have inherent risk and are generally operating at less than optimum efficiency. CombustionONE dramatically increases the efficiency of fired heaters while improving their margin of safety. The integrated combustion management system combines new gas combustion measurement utilizing a True Diode Laser Spectroscopy (TDLS) and control and safety technologies into one solution that improves fired heater performance and life, and that meets FM NFPA and SIL 2 standards. The four principal capabilities include Gas Concentration Measurement using TDLS technology in the radiant section, Process Control controlling fuel flow and air volumes, Safety System preventing unsafe conditions from persisting, and Sensing and Actuation Measuring air flow at multiple locations. www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

Other Oildex Office Locations 11777 Katy Freeway, Suite 350 Houston, TX 77079, USA Phone: 281-741-6300 Fax: 281-741-6296 Company Bio: Oildex is the energy industry’s leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that enable companies to collect, distribute, manage, process and analyze essential business data. With Oildex, companies can do more in less time, and managers can get up-to-theminute data to help them make well-informed decisions. Oildex is one of the most relied upon web-based information exchanges in the oil and gas industry, serving all major oil companies, hundreds of independent oil and gas producers, and tens of thousands of royalty and working-interest owners Products: Oildex helps organizations simplify and speed-up invoice and revenue processing, and it improves workflow and productivity by automating previously manual tasks and eliminating paper. Oildex also provides business intelligence that helps companies gain insight into the profitability of assets and active projects, pinpoint areas for cost savings and better forecast cash needs. ePayables—Solutions to help monitor the status of projects in real time, determine which assets are the most profitable, accurately forecast cash needs, speed-up the processing of invoices, and help owners and operators better collaborate and communicate with each other, as well as with vendors, suppliers and partners: Spendworks, Revenueworks, Trendx, JIB Connect and JIB Complete. eBudgeting—Solutions to help streamline the entire budgeting process and eliminate

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 19

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT time-consuming, manual, paper-based processes: AFEworks. eRevenue—Solutions to improve the collection, distribution and management of critical revenue information: Checkstub Connect (CDEX), CDEX Complete and Run Ticket Connect (CODE). eStatements—Solutions to provide owners, partners and vendors with fast, secure, webbased access to critical business information: Owner Relations Connect, Vendor Relations Connect and Petro Connect www.info.hotims.com/38647-138

CrudeManager CrudeManager is a powerful tool for managing and manipulating crude oil information. Its unique features and Spiral’s expertise in implementing these solutions have made it the assay management solution of choice across the industry. CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time. Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

EQUIPMENT RELIABILITY DATABASE

Products: SERHviewer provides an electronic format of the industry standard Safety Equipment Reliability Handbook (SERH). The SERH is the ultimate reference for any functional safety engineer involved in Conceptual Design and Safety Integrity Level verification. It provides detailed reliability data for over 1,700 specific manufacturer products, as well as generic equipment items. It eliminates the time-consuming task of manually gathering reliability data and provides a basis for consistent reliability evaluation and design of safety instrumented systems. SERHviewer has an easy-to-use interface that will provide users with an overview of available reliability data for specific types of products, manufacturers, assessment levels, etc. The equipment reliability data in the SERH is determined by performing a Failure Mode Effect and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA). An FMEDA is a structured, quantitative analysis that predicts failure rates, modes and diagnostic coverage along with their corresponding effects on system operation. The FMEDA results provide SIS designers with the detailed reliability data required for SIL verification compliant with IEC 61511. The SERH database is used as the source of reliability data for SIL verification in the exida exSILentia® SILver tool. www.info.hotims.com/38647-126

FLUID FLOW ANALYSIS

Engineered Software 4529 Intelco Loop SE Lacey, WA 98503, USA Phone: 360-412-0702 www.eng-software.com

C N EPC NSOFTWARE exida 64 North Main Street Sellersville, PA 18960, USA Phone: 215-453-1720 Fax: 215-257-1657 Contact: Iwan van Beurden, Director of Engineering E-mail: vanbeurden@exida.com; info@exida.com www.exida.com Company Bio: exida is an engineering consulting ﬁrm specializing in safety critical/high availability automation systems, control system security and alarm management. Core competencies in design, analysis, implementation, operation and maintenance of critical automation systems, along with expertise in the application of the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511/ISA 84 functional safety standards, has allowed exida to develop an extensive suite of software tools that assist in the implementation of the Safety Lifecycle.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

EPCON International, Inc. 9801 Westheimer Suite 1000 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 281-398-9400 Toll-free: 1-800-367-3585 Fax: 281-398-9488 Contact: Jyoti Belwal, General Sales Manager E-mail: jb@epcon.com www.EPCON.com Company Bio: EPCON Software leads the way in innovative software applications for fluid flow network analysis, equipment sizing, cost estimation, thermodynamics, physical properties and custom software engineering. Over 25,000 engineers worldwide have used EPCON Software since 1982 and currently 90% of petroleum refining companies in the Fortune 500 rely on EPCON Software each and every day.

Flow & Pressure Performance for Liquid and Gas Pipeline Networks

Analyze

Simulate

Converge Refinery-Wide Models with Thousands of Pipes in Seconds

Identify Root-Cause Problems to Improve Profitability and Safety

Design

Fluid flow simulation

Engineer’s Aide SiNET Fluid Flow Simulation Software

If you are looking for a total software solution for all of your fluid flow simulation needs then look no further than Engineer’s Aide SiNET , the leading fluid flow simulation software tool available for the petroleum industry. TM

Developed by

EPC C N NSOFTWARE

Run Fluid Flow Simulations & Analyze... · · · · ·

Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical Processes Steam, Condensate & Boiler Feed Water Systems Process, Fire, Waste & Cooling Water Systems Compressed & Instrument Air Systems Natural Gas & Fuel Gas Systems

Sizing/Design Applications For... · · · ·

Pipelines, Pumps, Flowmeters & Control Valves Heat Exchangers, Compressors & Columns Pressure Vessels, Reactors & Storage Tanks Cooling Towers & Filters

Other Features Include...

Try Engineer’s Aide SiNET Free For 30 Days TM

Visit www.EPCON.com/SiNET or call 1.800.367.3585 for more information

· Large Models Converge in Seconds · Data for over 2000 distinct components · Export to Excel Reporting Options

Select 134 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Products: EPCON Software’s flagship product Engineer’s Aide SiNET is the leading fluid flow analysis software available for the petroleum industry. This is why over 90% of petroleum refining companies in the Fortune 500 rely on Engineer’s Aide SiNET for all of their fluid flow needs. If you currently operate any type of liquid or gas pipeline network, such as cooling water, fuel gas, steam, fire, water and/or compressed air utility systems, you should download a free 30-day trial today at www.EPCON. com/SiNET to see firsthand how quickly and easily fluid flow analysis can be. The core patented technology of Engineer’s Aide SiNET is what delivers superior results and customer satisfaction. With precise physical property data and methods from AIChE and API (access to over 2,000 components), SiNET’s intuitive GUI allow engineers the ability to model, simulate and analyze almost any type of fluid flow system using its industry-leading pure math, calculation engine that can converge large models of up to 1,000 pipes within seconds. Other features of Engineer’s Aide SiNET include an array of equipment sizing applications, equipment cost estimation capabilities, ASME Steam Tables, and unit conversion calculators. Go to www.EPCON.com/SiNET or call 1-800-367-3585 and try Engineer’s Aide SiNET free for 30 days.

E P I

www.info.hotims.com/38647-133

Gulf Publishing Company

www.info.hotims.com/38647-134

Engineering

pipeline networks. Understanding exactly how your utility systems are operating will open the door to the identification of energy saving opportunities, resulting in optimized operations of your systems. EPI Engineering has analyzed hundreds of pipeline networks over the past ten years and our clients have realized an average 10:1 ROI on our services. When EPI Engineering conducts a Pipeline Network Optimization (PNO) service all existing deficiencies from original/expansion designs and bottlenecks are identified and corrected, leading to increased safety compliance while increasing the time between refinery shutdowns due to system variability. Utility systems that EPI Engineering specializes in include, but are not limited to: cooling water systems, steam and condensate systems, fire water systems, fuel gas systems, compressed air systems and boiler feed-water systems. If you would like to optimize your refinery’s liquid and gas fluid flow systems, resulting in safer operations and reduced energy costs, contact us today at 1-800-551-9739 or visit us on the web at www.EPIEngineering.com.

PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft Company Bio: Gulf Publishing Company’s Software Division publishes and distributes more than 40 desktop applications designed specifically for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: GENNET-M is a Windows® program that calculates flowrates, pressures, temperatures, velocity and other related variables in a pipeline network system carrying petroleum gases, liquids, water and multiphase mixtures under steady-state conditions. The name “GENNET” is an acronym for GENeral pipeline NETwork program. Thus, GENNET models systems comprised of pipes and pressure/temperature-changing equipment (pumps, compressors, heaters, valves, coolers, fittings, etc.) connected together in any configuration. For example, GENNET-M can handle gathering systems, flare systems, distribution systems, fire-loop systems, branched and looped pipelines. GENNET-M for multiphase mixtures of gas, oil or condensate and water will handle single-phase liquids and singlephase gases, too.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Essentially, GENNET-M is a streamlined version of the SIMPL2 program (the SIMPL2 engine) configured with and controlled by a network optimization program. In addition to the features inherited from SIMPL2, GENNET-M has the following features: • Handles network configuration • Multiple sources (supplies) • Multiple sinks (deliveries) • Multiple loops • Has a generic Delta P/T vs. Flow (DPDT) device to model: – Pumps – Valves – Coolers – Heaters – Compressors – Fittings • Source fluid variability (each source can be of completely different gravity and viscosity): – Liquid viscosity vs. temperature curve input option – Fluid property blending at junctions – Isenthalpic fluid temperature mixing at junctions • Pressure calibration option (enables you to match calculated pressures to measured pressures) • Liquid “pigging” factor option (enables you to remove part or all of the liquids from any part or the system, so that you can calculate the improved efficiencies of pigged lines) • Graph pressure and temperature vs. distance • Fixed flow or pressure option at sources and sinks FNESS 4.5—Desktop application for head loss calculating in complex distribution networks. For chemical, mechanical and civil engineers, FNESS supports fluid flow calculations in a pipe network for the steady-state situation based on Finite Element Methods. Powerful graphic interface speeds pipe network calculations. Results are shown in diagram form, indicating pressures and temperatures of the nodes, the out-flows in the interconnection elements and the orientation of the flow. Software has robust report function. Features: • Fast pipe implementation through button-clicking, pop-up menus and drag-and-drop features • Allows detailed modeling of flow network problems • Provides post-processing and report analysis through advanced reporting • Build systems and resolve problem implementations by inserting network nodes and basic piping elements from standard piping tables (e.g., ANSI, API, AWWA, et al.) • Head-loss calculations derived from either Darcy’s or Hazen-Williams equations

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT • Internal algorithms to check consistency of input data SIMPL2 handles single-phase gas, oil, condensate or water. Heat transfer for buried, submerged and in-air pipes is calculated. Optionally, user heat transfer coefficients may be input. Pressure and temperature can also be used as input. Pressure and temperature may be displayed graphically on the screen as functions of distance along the well tubing and/or pipes. SIMPL2 has US/SI units options and employs a “drag-and-drop” interface with online HELP. NATASHA—Perform transient and steady-state analyses (surge analysis, waterhammer analysis) on pipelines and network models (one or more sources, one or more sinks, zero or more loops) of up to 40 pipes. Model: • Gathering systems • Fire loops • Distribution systems with grid loops • Multiple sources and/or multiple sinks consisting of pipes of different sizes, pumps, valves, surge tanks, PRVs, fittings and leaks • Graphically plot node pressures and flows over time HYDPRO™ is a comprehensive drilling hydraulics program that covers all aspects of hydraulics including mud rheology modeling, pressure drops and flow pattern, surge and swab, equivalent circulation densities, (ECD’s) nozzle selection, cuttings concentration profile and volume displacements. Engineering features: • Fixed low rate analysis (analysis mode) • Variable flow rate analysis (design mode) • Bit optimization • Surge and swab at given tripping speed • Calculates pressure drop on spooled coiled-tubing • Bingham plastic, power law or Herschel Buckley • Pressure drop calculation through wellbore systems • Flow pattern visualization • Cuttings concentration profile • Critical flow rate calculation • Sensitivity analysis • Export results into MS Office files • Allows oil field, SI and customized unit setting PePac 2 consists of 40 Excel spreadsheet programs covering the areas of drilling and production engineering. Date entry is quick and easy. Contents include: • Mud flow properties and solid analysis • Kick control applications • Hydraulic fracture design • Preplanning wellbore trajectory • Mud weight calculations • Cement additive calculations for weight and volume of cement slurry • Three-phase oil/gas separator • Length and force changes in tubing

CC-FLASH is a subset of the CHEMCAD suite and allows rigorous calculation of physical properties and phase equilibria for pure components and mixtures. CC-BATCH makes batch distillation simulation and design easy with intuitive, operation step-based input; it optimizes batch operation, minimizes intermediate “slop” cuts and increases productivity.

ONLINE MONITORING AND OPTIMIZATION

Aware Technology PO Box 8060 Portland, ME 04104, USA Phone: 888-283-2673 Fax: 888-283-2673 E-mail: info@awaretechnology.com www.awaretechnology.com

www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

Flexware, Inc. PO Box 110 Grapeville, PA 15634, USA Phone: 724-527-0110 www.ﬂexwareinc.com

Chemstations, Inc. 11490 Westheimer Road, Suite 900 Houston, TX 77077, USA Toll Free: 800-243-6223 Phone: 713-978-7700 Fax: 713-978-7727 E-mail: sales@chemstations.com www.chemstations.com Company Bio: Chemstions is a leader in chemical process simulation software and has been developing powerful solutions since 1988. Over 1,000 organizations worldwide use our technologies to improve productivity and profitability. We believe in the value that chemical engineers bring to our world and are dedicated to providing tools that help advance the field. Products: CHEMCAD is Chemstations’ intuitive suite of chemical process simulation software that broadens an engineer’s capabilities and increases productivity. CHEMCAD supercharges an engineer’s efficiency when facing the toughest chemical process models or addressing day-to-day challenges. CC-STEADY STATE includes libraries of chemicals, thermodynamic methods and unit operations to allow steady-state simulation of continuous processes from lab scale to full scale. CC-DYNAMICS takes steady-state simulations to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic analysis. The possibilities are endless: operability check-out, PID loop tuning, operator training, even online process control and soft sensor functionality. CC-THERM makes use of multiple international standards for design and materials to make sizing or rating heat exchangers faster and more accurate. The program covers shelland-tube, plate-and-frame, air-cooled and double-pipe exchangers. CC-SAFETY NET allows rigorous analysis of any piping network and combines the rigorous two-phase relief device calculation, pressure drop calculation, physical property calculation and phase equilibrium to deliver fast, accurate answers.

KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com Other KBC Office Locations: London Phone: +44 (0)1932 242424 Singapore Phone: +65 6735 5488 Company Bio: KBC Advanced Technologies provides software and services to the global energy industries. KBC’s suite of software includes process simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC oﬀers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include generalpurpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages, and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with other systems. Enhanced monitoring tools are included, and

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

ProCount is Merrick’s robust hydrocarbon accounting solution, providing precise daily and monthly allocations for enterprises of every scale. From the simplest to the most complex allocations, including multi-tier, multi-directional flow, ProCount accommodates both domestic and international use, with the accuracy critical for regulatory compliance, partner accounting and better engineering and asset management. ProCount helps to manage the unique challenges of unconventional plays such as gas or oily shale, coalbed methane, waterfloods and CO2. Allocating volumes in near-real time, it allows you to accurately account for production, fuel use, gas lift, liquid inventories and sales. Carte is a web-based oil and gas production reporting dashboard that enables you to view, graph and export daily and monthly oil and gas production trends by a single well, field or entire asset. Providing a critical window into operations, Carte gives immediate access to key production data, helping to monitor performance, make decisions based on better information and allowing the company as a whole to react faster to production problems and opportunities. Combined, ProCount and Carte provide each department in your organization, from land through accounting, engineering, field operations and marketing to management, the specific information they require, in an easy to digest format, ensuring that your business is running more efficiently. ProCount and Carte allow you to monitor your new wells as they move from drilling to completion, and run comparative KPI’s across all wells, easily managing massive volumes of production data and fast-paced operations. Currently redeveloped in Microsoft’s Silverlight platform, additions to the system will include improved mapping and navigator capabilities.

flow pipeline network. Since 2001 we have conducted hundreds of projects that have saved our clients millions of dollars and we are confident we can identify significant savings for your refinery as well. Products: EPI Engineering specializes in Pipeline Network Optimization (PNO) and offers the industry’s best practices and technology to increase capacity, reliability, utilization, profitability and understanding of your refinery’s fluid flow pipeline networks. Understanding exactly how your utility systems are operating will open the door to the identification of energy saving opportunities, resulting in optimized operations of your systems. EPI Engineering has analyzed hundreds of pipeline networks over the past ten years and our clients have realized an average 10:1 ROI on our services. When EPI Engineering conducts a PNO service all existing deficiencies from original/ expansion designs and bottlenecks are identified and corrected, leading to increased safety compliance while increasing the time between refinery shutdowns due to system variability. Utility systems that EPI Engineering specializes in include, but are not limited to: cooling water systems, steam and condensate systems, fire water systems, fuel gas systems, compressed air systems and boiler feed-water systems. If you would like to optimize your refinery’s liquid and gas fluid flow systems, resulting in safer operations and reduced energy costs, contact us today at 1-800-551-9739 or visit us on the web at www.EPIEngineering.com. www.info.hotims.com/38647-133

www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

OPERATIONS

Engineering

E P I

can be extended to the web through Babelfish from ISS. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC offers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization, as well as for design and feasibility studies. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express includes general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances. www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

technologies in the oil field to help companies extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or hosted Software as a Service (SaaS), include mobile computing for field and drilling operations, real-time surveillance and optimization; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: Merrick’s suite of Production Software, licensed or hosted, provides a complete solution for production operations management, integrating all vital production data into one single system. The software helps to manage the flow of operational data from the wellhead to the desktop of engineers, managers, accountants and external partners, and improves the quality and visibility of data used by both field and office personnel to make vital operational decisions. Gathering and reporting any type of data from the reservoir to the well through the allocation network in a single source, Merrick’s production software suite keeps everyone in your organization on the same page. Used in 20% of all oil and gas wells in the US by more than 3,500 field operators, Merrick’s software suite can handle the unique challenges of unconventional plays such as gas or oily shale, coalbed methane, waterfloods and CO2. Merrick’s production system includes software for field data capture, robust hydrocarbon accounting and a dashboard for reporting: • eVIN—Mobile and PC-based field data capture system designed for simple, fast and efficient entry of daily readings with field validation and AGA calculations built in • ProCount—Robust hydrocarbon accounting solution to manage simple and complex daily and monthly production allocations, including full component allocations with over 100 standard reports included • Carte—Web-based production monitoring and reporting tool for viewing, graphing, analyzing and exporting daily and monthly oil and gas production trends. www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

PLANNING, SCHEDULING AND BLENDING

Haverly Systems, Inc. 12 Hinchman Avenue Denville, NJ 07834, USA www.haverly.com

Ingenious, Inc. 10700 Richmond Avenue Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 832-242-0220 www.ingeniousinc.com

KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com Other KBC Office Locations: London Phone: +44 (0)1932 242424 Singapore Phone: +65 6735 5488 Company Bio: KBC Advanced Technologies provides software and services to the global energy industries. KBC’s suite of software includes process simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC offers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization, as well as for design and feasibility studies. KBC and the SIM Suite models have been used worldwide in the generation of input for refiner’s Linear Programs (LPs). Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software. Petro-SIM includes a full-featured product blending module and LP Utility module to easily create LP assay tables and base-delta tables. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydro-

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 25

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT cracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Oleﬁn-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

M3 Technology, Inc. 10375 Richmond Avenue, Suite 380 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 713-784-8285 www.m3tch.com

models, and maintain business alignment and communicate conclusions eﬃciently. Industry-leading assay libraries from Shell and Chevron are available for use in conjunction with the software tools. CrudeManager CrudeManager is a powerful tool for managing and manipulating crude oil information. Its unique features and Spiral’s expertise in implementing these solutions have made it the assay management solution of choice across the industry. CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time. Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions. www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

PLANT LIFECYCLE AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING

Products: Spiral Software oﬀers a fully-integrated suite of tools to support feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization. Applications include: • Enterprise crude oil knowledge management • Integrated planning and scheduling • Crude oil assay management • Feedstock ranking and evaluation • Crude blend optimization All of the tools are built on a common data model, with version and data management control, and accessible through parallel desktop and web interfaces. This allows users in every area to share appropriate data and

Chemstations, Inc.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

to our world and are dedicated to providing tools that help advance the field. Products: CHEMCAD is Chemstations’ intuitive suite of chemical process simulation software that broadens an engineer’s capabilities and increases productivity. CHEMCAD supercharges an engineer’s efficiency when facing the toughest chemical process models or addressing day-to-day challenges. CC-STEADY STATE includes libraries of chemicals, thermodynamic methods and unit operations to allow steady-state simulation of continuous processes from lab scale to full scale. CC-DYNAMICS takes steady-state simulations to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic analysis. The possibilities are endless: operability check-out, PID loop tuning, operator training, even online process control and soft sensor functionality. CC-THERM makes use of multiple international standards for design and materials to make sizing or rating heat exchangers faster and more accurate. The program covers shelland-tube, plate-and-frame, air-cooled and double-pipe exchangers. CC-SAFETY NET allows rigorous analysis of any piping network and combines the rigorous two-phase relief device calculation, pressure drop calculation, physical property calculation and phase equilibrium to deliver fast, accurate answers. CC-FLASH is a subset of the CHEMCAD suite and allows rigorous calculation of physical properties and phase equilibria for pure components and mixtures. CC-BATCH makes batch distillation simulation and design easy with intuitive, operation step-based input; it optimizes batch operation, minimizes intermediate “slop” cuts and increases productivity. www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

Intertek 801 Travis Street, Suite 1500 Houston, TX 77002, USA Phone: 713-407-3500 Contact: Erik Holladay, Global Marketing Director E-mail: testingservices@intertek.com www.intertek.com

Need to predict emissions from a scrubbing column and display real-time data to operations?

We’re on it. We make your challenges our challenges. To see how CHEMCAD has helped advance engineering for our customers, visit chemstations.com/demos11. David Hill, CHEMCAD Support Expert →

Select 130 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Company Bio: Intertek supports the global petroleum refining, petrochemical, and oil and gas exploration and production industries with world-class testing, inspection, engineering and consulting services. With operations in over 100 nations, Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise to help clients improve quality and reduce risk and costs. Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Refined Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Refinery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC offers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with other systems. Enhanced monitoring tools are included, and can be extended to the web through Babelfish from ISS. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances.

profitability, reduce operational and safety risks, and improve operational planning. The company is built upon a foundation of leadingedge science and technology that has innovated and shaped industries for nearly forty years. Products: Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-forService and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed and rotating equipment. It implements the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and performs crack assessments in accordance with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and fitness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modified and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

Intertek Quest Integrity Group, LLC 2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com Company Bio: Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate, technology-enabled inspection and assessment solutions that help companies in the process, pipeline and power industries increase

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT expertise to help clients improve quality and reduce risk and costs. Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Reﬁned Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Reﬁnery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

Meridium, Inc. 207 Bullitt Avenue, SE Roanoke, VA 24013, USA www.meridium.com

data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: Merrick’s RFID-Based Asset Tracking System allows you to track and maintain any surface, subsea and downhole oilfield asset. The system is comprised of patented, ruggedized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, software and electronics, providing vital information about operational assets used in drilling and production operations. Configurability and a modular design allows the system to address specific operational requirements for managing any type of asset, including high-value items like drill pipe, risers, collars and much more. Merrick’s RFID Diamond TagsTM are the first High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) tags in the market, proven to survive sustained extreme temperatures (400°F/200°C), pressures (2,070 bar/30,000 psi), vibration, corrosion and shock. The tags are used for tracking assets even under harsh operational conditions and have been nominated for several prestigious awards, including the SME Innovation Award from Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) and the Innovation Award from the Energy Institute. Merrick’s web-based DynaCap software platform used to manage asset data is highly configurable, allowing you to capture any information needed, including inspections, certifications, specifications, usage history, location and more. Utilizing industry-standard rugged mobile computers for field and rig operations, DynaCap works in both connected or disconnected modes to provide critical asset details even in remote locations with limited connectivity. Licensed or hosted by Merrick Software as a Service (SaaS), DynaCap offers significant savings, increased operational efficiency and improved safety while managing valuable oilfield assets. www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

Preops Integrated Solutions, LLC. 785 Greens Parkway, Suite 100 Houston, TX 77067, USA Phone: 832-282-3086 www.preopsnet.com

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 29

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Cameron 11210 Equity Drive Houston, TX 77041, USA www.c-a-m.com

REFINING, PETROCHEMICAL AND GAS PROCESSING

www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

EPC NSOFTWARE C N EPCON International, Inc. Chemstations, Inc. 11490 Westheimer Road, Suite 900 Houston, TX 77077, USA Toll Free: 800-243-6223 Phone: 713-978-7700 Fax: 713-978-7727 E-mail: sales@chemstations.com www.chemstations.com Company Bio: Chemstions is a leader in chemical process simulation software and has been developing powerful solutions since 1988. Over 1,000 organizations worldwide use our technologies to improve productivity and profitability. We believe in the value that chemical engineers bring to our world and are dedicated to providing tools that help advance the field. Products: CHEMCAD is Chemstations’ intuitive suite of chemical process simulation software that broadens an engineer’s capabilities and increases productivity. CHEMCAD supercharges an engineer’s efficiency when facing the toughest chemical process models or addressing day-to-day challenges. CC-STEADY STATE includes libraries of chemicals, thermodynamic methods and unit operations to allow steady-state simulation of continuous processes from lab scale to full scale. CC-DYNAMICS takes steady-state simulations to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic analysis. The possibilities are endless: operability check-out, PID loop tuning, operator training, even online process control and soft sensor functionality. CC-THERM makes use of multiple international standards for design and materials to make sizing or rating heat exchangers faster and more accurate. The program covers shelland-tube, plate-and-frame, air-cooled and double-pipe exchangers. CC-SAFETY NET allows rigorous analysis of any piping network and combines the rigorous two-phase relief device calculation, pressure drop calculation, physical property calculation and phase equilibrium to deliver fast, accurate answers. 30

9801 Westheimer Suite 1000 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 281-398-9400 Toll-free: 1-800-367-3585 Fax: 281-398-9488 Contact: Jyoti Belwal, General Sales Manager E-mail: jb@epcon.com www.EPCON.com Company Bio: EPCON Software leads the way in innovative software applications for fluid flow network analysis, equipment sizing, cost estimation, thermodynamics, physical properties and custom software engineering. Over 25,000 engineers worldwide have used EPCON Software since 1982 and currently 90% of petroleum refining companies in the Fortune 500 rely on EPCON Software each and every day. Products: Often referred to as the “Refiners Bible,” the API Technical Data Book is the #1 software application for phase equilibrium and thermophysical properties. Developed by the American Petroleum Institute over the past 45 years by 127 leading thermodynamic experts in the petroleum industry, the API Technical Data Book contains an enormous amount of data and methods for hydrocarbons and petro fractions, detailed information for 161 API physical property methods, and over 2,000 technical references and resources right at your fingertips via a software suite of 20 robust applications. Most petroleum engineers own a personal, printed copy of the data book that they use as a technical reference, but did you know that the last, publicly available printed version of the data book was released in 1999, and there have been nine major updates and additions to the data since? If this is your situation or you would like to experience the data book for the first time, then visit us online at www.EPCON.com/APITech or call us at 1-800-367-3585 to learn more about how you can try the newest version of the API Technical Data Book free for 30 Days.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

www.info.hotims.com/38647-134

Engineering

E P I

PROCESS SOLUTIONS AND EQUIPMENT PROVIDER

Equity Engineering Group, Inc. 20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200 Shaker Heights, OH 44122, USA Phone: 216-283-9519 www.equityeng.com

AMERICAN PETROLEUM INSTITUTE ®

Thermophysical Properties

Technical Data Methods & Standards

Petro Fractions

TECHNICAL DATA BOOK 8th Edition

Commonly referred to as the “Refiner’s Bible,” the API Technical Data Book is the only standard on petroleum refining with the latest, most accurate technical data and methods officially sanctioned by the American Petroleum Institute. The last printed version of the API Tech Data Book was published in 1999 and has since been replaced with the API Technical Data Book – a computer driven software application.

“...it’s the equivalent of adding the

industry’s leading thermodynamic experts

to your engineering team...all with individually, specialized skills.”

The latest version of the API Technical Data Book contains all prior published materials with an additional 12 years of methods and standards developed by the API Tech Data Committee. Also included is an annually, updated physical property data bank jointly developed with AIChE. Keep current and access The API Technical Data Book free for 30 days. Visit www.EPCON.com/APITech or call 1.800.367.3585 for more information. TM & © 2011 EPCON International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. API, the American Petroleum Institute and AIChE are registered trademarks and used with permission.

Developed & Distributed Exclusively By

EPC NSOFTWARE

Select 135 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Heat Transfer Research, Inc. Worldwide 150 Venture Drive College Station, TX 77845, USA Phone: 979-690-5050 Fax: 979-690-3250 Contacts: Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO; Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business Development; and Greg Starks, Regional Sales Manager, USA/Canada E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net www.HTRI.net Asia-Pacific Heat Transfer Research, Inc. World Business Garden Marive East 14F Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku Chiba 261-7114, Japan Phone: 81-43-297-0353 Fax: 81-43-297-0354 Contact: Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Manager E-mail: HTRI.AsiaPacific@HTRI.net EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) The Surrey Technology Centre 40 Occam Road Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG, UK Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100 Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101 Contact: Hans U. Zettler, Director of Sales, EMEA E-mail: HTRI.EMEA@HTRI.net India C-1, First Floor, Tower-B “Indraprasth Complex” Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North) Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India Phone: 91-982-514-7775 Contact: Rajan Desai, International Coordinator E-mail: HTRI.India@HTRI.net Company Bio: HTRI operates an international consortium founded in 1962 that conducts industrially relevant research and provides software tools for design, rating and simulation of process heat transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide range of technical publications and provides other services including contract research, software development, consulting and training. Products: HTRI Xchanger Suite®—Integrated graphical user environment for the design, rating and simulation of heat transfer equipment. Xace®—Designs, rates and simulates the performance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat recovery units and air preheaters. Xfh®—Simulates the behavior of fired heat32

ers. Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and box heaters and the convection section of fired heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and performs combustion calculations. Xhpe®—Designs, rates, and simulates the performance of hairpin heat exchangers. Xist®—Designs, rates and simulates singleand two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, including kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, falling film evaporators and reflux condensers. Xjpe®—Designs, rates and simulates jacketed-pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. Xphe®—Designs, rates and simulates plateand-frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental program, Xphe calculates each plate channel individually using local physical properties and process conditions. Xspe®—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral plate heat exchangers. Xtlo®—Graphical standalone rigorous tube layout software; also integrated with Xist. Xvib®—Performs flow-induced vibration analysis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. It handles various geometries and uses rigorous structural analysis to calculate the tube natural frequencies for various modes. Xchanger Suite® Educational—Customized version of Xchanger Suite with the capability to design, rate and simulate shell-and-tube heat exchangers, air coolers, economizers and plateand-frame heat exchangers. It is available to educational institutions only. R-trend®—Calculates and trends fouling resistances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in single-phase service. It uses Microsoft Excel as a working environment with an optional link to Xist. www.info.hotims.com/38647-127

Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Reﬁned Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Reﬁnery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Other KBC Office Locations: London Phone: +44 (0)1932 242424 Singapore Phone: +65 6735 5488 Company Bio: KBC Advanced Technologies provides software and services to the global energy industries. KBC’s suite of software includes process simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC oﬀers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization, as well as for design and feasibility studies.

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances. www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and fitness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modified and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

Smithco Engineering, Inc. 6312 S. 39th West Avenue Tulsa, OK 74133, USA Phone: 918-446-4406 www.smithco-eng.com

SECURITY SERVICES

Products: Not that long ago the move towards “open systems” and the resulting incorporation of offthe-shelf technologies represented a huge step forward in control system design. System integration became easier, product development by manufacturers was accelerated, and training leveraged common tools and concepts. While the benefits have been tremendous, open technology has made control systems open to security vulnerabilities, putting production and human safety at risk. Countering these threats requires organizations to develop a better understanding of their process control system security risks and how they are positioned to address them. A Control System Security Assessment (CSSA) evaluates current control system design, network architecture, security policies and practices; compares results to relevant industry standards and best practices such as ANSI/ISA 99.02.012009, DHS CFATS RBPS-8, NERC CIP 002009, API 1164, etc.; provides the organization with a good understanding of where they are, where they need to be and how to get there; provides documentation required by regulators, insurance companies and any other stakeholders. The benefits of the assessment include providing management with a solid understanding of the current situation and gaps, helping identify and prioritize security investments, providing an excellent starting point towards developing a broader security program, and it is quick and inexpensive—most systems can be assessed in less than a week. www.info.hotims.com/38647-126

Quest Integrity Group, LLC

exida

2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com

64 North Main Street Sellersville, PA 18960, USA Phone: 215-453-1720 Fax: 215-257-1657 Contact: John Cusimano, Director of Security Services E-mail: jcusimano@exida.com; info@exida.com www.exida.com

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 33

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION DATA MANAGEMENT

geoLogic systems, Ltd. 900, 703 6 Avenue, SW Calgary, AB T2P 0T9, Canada Phone: 403-262-1992 www.geologic.com

Merrick Systems, Inc. 55 Waugh Drive, Suite 400 Houston, TX 77007, USA Phone: 713-579-3400 Fax: 713-579-3499 Contact: Faisal Kidwai, VP Sales E-mail: Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com; info@MerrickSystems.com www.MerrickSystems.com Company Bio: Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most robust software and hardware solutions addressing production operations, engineering and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry expertise, Merrick has pioneered innovative technologies in the oil field to help companies extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or hosted Software as a Service (SaaS), include mobile computing for field and drilling operations, real-time surveillance and optimization; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: RIO is Merrick’s versatile technical data storage, management, visualization and analysis tool. Today’s oil and gas upstream business is more dynamic than ever and you need the right tools to help you stay ahead of the game. Merrick’s RIO is the perfect tool for evaluating properties in a fast, effective and reliable way and managing your existing properties efficiently. RIO, Merrick’s enterprise technical data store for exploitation, operations, property evaluation, reservoir analysis and field studies, helps manage and analyze production, reservoir, geological and petrophysical data. Ideal for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas operations, RIO is an essential tool for acquisition, divestiture and property evaluation, enabling you to quickly load well-related data from the seller and/or public data providers such as IHS, Lexco, Drillinginfo and others, so that you can spend more time analyzing data to support business and op34

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

DATA VISUALIZATION

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION • Plots and prints detailed well proﬁle in: Plane view, Section view, Dogleg and 3D View • Allows multiple trajectories • 3D color viewing of user-deﬁned parameters • Shows the designed or actual well path • Formation layers and surface lease lines

Merrick Systems, Inc. 55 Waugh Drive, Suite 400 Houston, TX 77007, USA Phone: 713-579-3400 Fax: 713-579-3499 Contact: Faisal Kidwai, VP Sales E-mail: Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com; info@MerrickSystems.com www.MerrickSystems.com Company Bio: Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most robust software and hardware solutions addressing production operations, engineering and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry expertise, Merrick has pioneered innovative technologies in the oil field to help companies extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or hosted Software as a Service (SaaS), include mobile computing for field and drilling operations, real-time surveillance and optimization; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: RIO is Merrick’s versatile technical data storage, management, visualization and analysis tool. Today’s oil and gas upstream business is more dynamic than ever and you need the right tools to help you stay ahead of the game. Merrick’s RIO is the perfect tool for evaluating properties in a fast, effective and reliable way and managing your existing properties efficiently. RIO, Merrick’s enterprise technical data store for exploitation, operations, property evaluation, reservoir analysis and field studies, helps manage and analyze production, reservoir, geological and petrophysical data. Ideal for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas operations, RIO is an essential tool for acquisition, divestiture and property evaluation, enabling you to quickly load well-related data from the seller and/or public data providers such as IHS, Lexco, Drillinginfo and others, so that you can spend more time analyzing data to support business and op-

erational decisions. RIO helps to identify well spots, track well trajectories and ensures that all your vital technical data is accessible to your staff without the limitations or restrictions of other project-based systems. Easy to use, RIO allows immediate access to vital information on both your operated as well as non-operated properties of interest, including well status, interests (NRI and WI), production data and directional survey, and offers you data mining tools including configurable graphing utility, along with ad-hoc reporting and mapping. Carte is a web-based oil and gas production reporting dashboard that enables you to view, graph and export daily and monthly oil and gas production trends by a single well, field or entire asset. Providing a critical window into operations, Carte gives immediate access to key production data, helping to monitor performance, make decisions based on better information and allowing the company as a whole to react faster to production problems and opportunities. Combined, ProCount and Carte provide each department in your organization, from land through accounting, engineering, field operations and marketing to management, the specific information they require, in an easy to digest format, ensuring that your business is running more efficiently. ProCount and Carte allow you to monitor your new wells as they move from drilling to completion and run comparative KPI’s across all wells, easily managing massive volumes of production data and fast-paced operations. Currently redeveloped in Microsoft’s Silverlight platform, additions to the system will include improved mapping and navigator capabilities.

tion of leading-edge science and technology that has innovated and shaped industries for nearly forty years. Products: Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-forService and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed and rotating equipment. It implements the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and performs crack assessments in accordance with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and fitness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modified and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

Pixotec, LLC

15917 SE Fairwood Blvd. Renton, WA 98058, USA Phone: 425-255-0789 Fax: 425-917-0104 Contact: Skip Echert, Director of Marketing E-mail: info@slicerdicer.com www.slicerdicer.com Company Bio: PIXOTEC, LLC specializes in the development of software for the analysis of complex data in three or more dimensions. Dr. David Lucas, the originator of Slicer Dicer, heads the software development eﬀorts and is co-owner of PIXOTEC. Slicer Dicer® and its precursors have been under development since the late 80s. Products: Slicer Dicer—Volumetric Data Visualization Software for Windows, is designed for geoscientists and engineers involved with complex data deﬁned in three or more dimensions. This

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 35

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION easy-to-use tool is employed for the analysis of seismic data and geological model outputs. It has users in over 50 countries. The latest version of Slicer Dicer, v5, includes 3VOTM Slicer Dicer’s powerful new 3D viewer. It simpliﬁes rotating, zooming, and other manipulations of your data scene, all by simply moving your mouse. With Slicer Dicer, you can explore your multidimensional volume data visually by “slicing and dicing” to create arbitrary orthogonal and oblique slices, rectilinear blocks and cutouts, isosurfaces, and projected volumes. You can generate animation sequences featuring continuous rotation, moving slices, blocks, parametric variation (time animation), oblique slice rotation, and varying transparency. Use the new 3VOTM viewer to easily rotate, zoom, control lighting and light reﬂection, and change the center of rotation of your data image. Pricing for Slicer Dicer starts at only $495. Go to our website, SlicerDicer.com, to download a full-featured demo that is limited only by a 15-day trial period. Low-cost upgrades from previous versions of Slicer Dicer are also available from the SlicerDicer.com website. www.info.hotims.com/38647-139

• Integrated planning and scheduling • Crude oil assay management • Feedstock ranking and evaluation • Crude blend optimization All of the tools are built on a common data model, with version and data management control, and accessible through parallel desktop and web interfaces. This allows users in every area to share appropriate data and models, and maintain business alignment and communicate conclusions eﬃciently. Industry-leading assay libraries from Shell and Chevron are available for use in conjunction with the software tools.

Yokogawa Europe B.V.

22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 Fax: 86-21-5211-0299

CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time. Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions. www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

Yokogawa Electric Corp. World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Yokogawa Corp. of America 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD.

Company Bio: Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North American division of $3.4 billion Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture and supply of instrumentation, process control, automation services and solutions. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Yokogawa Corporation of America offers a variety of clients with leading products on the market such as process analyzers, flowmeters, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition products, measuring instruments, distributed control systems and more. Products: FAST/TOOLSTM (Advance Process Control Management software) is a powerful, state-of-the-art, flexible, distributed Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. It is a client/server-based open architecture that provides support for standards such as XML, HTML, Java, ODBC and OPC, and ensures uniform and standard interfaces to other packages and applications. It has been developed and evolved over a period of three decades to span a wide range of operating platforms, such that it offers stability and scalability during the lifetime of the process. It has a proven track-record, guaranteed ‘best-of-class’ availability, data integrity, high levels of performance and online configuration capabilities. FAST/TOOLS is scalable from less than a hundred to more than a million I/O points, and supports multiple architectures from single node solutions to multi-node client/server systems and is used in many application areas, such as: • Oil and Gas exploration, production and distribution supervision • Pipeline Management • Ship monitoring and control • Production control supervision • Utilities like water, wastewater treatment, gas and electricity distribution and management • Embedded applications in advanced production equipment.

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION FAST/TOOLS provides a powerful data visualization platform for integrating key performance indicators and plant performance variables in consolidating information from a wide variety of control, information and internet sources. www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

DYNAMIC SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION

AspenTech 200 Wheeler Road Burlington, MA 01803, USA Phone: 781-221-6400 www.aspentech.com

Chemstations, Inc.

sis of any piping network and combines the rigorous two-phase relief device calculation, pressure drop calculation, physical property calculation and phase equilibrium to deliver fast, accurate answers. CC-FLASH is a subset of the CHEMCAD suite and allows rigorous calculation of physical properties and phase equilibria for pure components and mixtures. CC-BATCH makes batch distillation simulation and design easy with intuitive, operation step-based input; it optimizes batch operation, minimizes intermediate “slop” cuts and increases productivity. www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

Invensys Operational Management 5601 Granite Parkway III, Suite 1000 Plano, TX 75024, USA Phone: 469-365-6400 www.invensys.com

www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

11490 Westheimer Road, Suite 900 Houston, TX 77077, USA Toll Free: 800-243-6223 Phone: 713-978-7700 Fax: 713-978-7727 E-mail: sales@chemstations.com www.chemstations.com Company Bio: Chemstions is a leader in chemical process simulation software and has been developing powerful solutions since 1988. Over 1,000 organizations worldwide use our technologies to improve productivity and profitability. We believe in the value that chemical engineers bring to our world and are dedicated to providing tools that help advance the field. Products: CHEMCAD is Chemstations’ intuitive suite of chemical process simulation software that broadens an engineer’s capabilities and increases productivity. CHEMCAD supercharges an engineer’s efficiency when facing the toughest chemical process models or addressing day-to-day challenges. CC-STEADY STATE includes libraries of chemicals, thermodynamic methods and unit operations to allow steady-state simulation of continuous processes from lab scale to full scale. CC-DYNAMICS takes steady-state simulations to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic analysis. The possibilities are endless: operability check-out, PID loop tuning, operator training, even online process control and soft sensor functionality. CC-THERM makes use of multiple international standards for design and materials to make sizing or rating heat exchangers faster and more accurate. The program covers shelland-tube, plate-and-frame, air-cooled and double-pipe exchangers. CC-SAFETY NET allows rigorous analy-

Petro-SIM Dynamics features a Dynamics Assistant for simplified dynamic model building, an interactive solver, an event scheduler for entering specific plant events, historical data loggers and charts for customizing variables, a cause-and-effect matrix for simulating control system logic, a control manager for a concise summary of all the controllers in the model and a flexible user interface, including a DCS interface. Petro-SIM Dynamics is a part of the PetroSIM family of products which features proven technology in an easy-to-use interface. PetroSIM products include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software.

Quest Integrity Group, LLC 2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 37

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and fitness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modified and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

and Chevron are available for use in conjunction with the software tools. CrudeManager CrudeManager is a powerful tool for managing and manipulating crude oil information. Its unique features and Spiral’s expertise in implementing these solutions have made it the assay management solution of choice across the industry. CrudeSuite CrudeSuite is an industry-leading enterprise toolset for crude oil knowledge management, focusing on the needs of integrated oil companies and energy traders. Industry-leading software innovations provide unprecedented performance in netback calculations, crude margin estimation, and crude and product blending, allowing users to explore opportunities in real time. Spiral Suite Spiral Suite brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope optimization activities in a single, fullyintegrated toolset. The result is a solution that better explores opportunities, reduces operational risk and shrinks the gap between plan and actual results. All activities are supported within a single application with a single user interface and a single source of data. Built from the ground up for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite fully utilizes modern multi-core processers and inherently supports Cloud computing solutions. www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

PROCESS CONTROL AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

control valve module—the latest advancement in the valve-sizing software industry. Refreshed and upgraded, the author has added additional engineering features that make InstruCalc even better than before. Features: • Additional graphs for control valves and flow elements calculations that will calculate, display and print graphs of the calculations • More restrictive devices such as ISO Venture, ASME long radius nozzle and concentric orifice plate (thick and thin) for gas and liquid services • More material yield strengths file to calculate orifice plate thickness automatically • Updated ISO orifice plate calculations for ISO 5167, 2003 • Allows you to select any set of engineering units, including your own customized set. Units can be mixed, matched and changed in the middle of a calculation • Consists of more than 74 routines divided into five main sections • Calculates process data at flow conditions for 54 fluids in either mixtures or single components and 66 gases in either mixtures or single components. Files can be updated with additional users’ fluids and gases • Calculates the orifice size, flowrate or differential range, which enables the user to select the flowrate with optimum accuracy. It provides the recommended size and corrects the orifice size accordingly

Gulf Publishing Company

Yokogawa Electric Corp.

PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft

World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Company Bio: Gulf Publishing Company’s Software Division publishes and distributes more than 40 desktop applications designed speciﬁcally for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: InstruCalc calculates the sizes of control valves, ﬂow elements and relief devices; produces data sheets for calculated items; and prepares instrument summaries and uses data sheets as a database for generating reports. The program allows you to select any set of engineering units, including your own customized set. Version 7.1 includes dynamic sizing in the

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Yokogawa Corp. of America 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

Yokogawa Europe B.V. Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD. 22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 Company Bio: Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North American division of $3.4 billion Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture and supply of instrumentation, process control, automation services and solutions. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, Yokogawa Corporation of America offers a variety of clients with leading products on the market such as process analyzers, flowmeters, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition products, measuring instruments, distributed control systems and more. Products: CENTUM VP™—CENTUM VP is an integrated production control system used to manage and control the operation of plants. The highly acclaimed, extremely reliable integrated production control system combines rugged control station and remote I/O hardware with a scalable Windows XP/VISTAbased operation. Designed to handle information and control from small-scale facilities to the very largest of plants, the CENTUM VP provides a highly scalable, easy-to-operate, engineer and maintain, high-performance automation platform. The system architecture includes a 1-GB control and information highway utilizing Yokogawa’s deterministic VNet protocol over Ethernet that provides built-in security for critical communications. CENTUM VP is an open platform for control and information providing high performance with low cost of ownership and a seamless technology migration to its installed base. STARDOMTM—STARDOM is a network-based control system that consists of a family of highly functional, autonomous, and intelligent remote terminal units (RTUs). It features small, scalable architecture that is capable of being highly distributed, both within a facility and also geographically. The STARDOM family of controllers includes a Field control node (FCN)—a modular controller with a wide range of I/O modules and two expansion units suitable for mid-size applications, a Field Control Junction—an all-in-one compact controller with built-in I/O suitable for direct installation on equipment or utilities, and a FCN-RTU suitable for low-power applications. STARDOM enables operation and monitoring of the process anywhere, anytime using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. STARDOM autonomous controllers are Foundation fieldbus certified and can be adapted to any infrastructure to integrate all process information. STARDOM

autonomous controllers have great remote management and stand-alone capability, and reduce running costs by making ﬂexible use of e-mail, the Web and SCADA technology. ExaQuantum™—Exaquantum is an intelligent and scalable Plant Information Management System that provides a platform for collecting, storing and displaying current and historical data from production equipment. It’s historian software processes and stores process data, alarms and events acquired from the production control system through a standard OPC interface. Plant operational performance can be monitored and analyzed using this data as it is an enabling platform for production management applications like data reconciliation, production accounting, performance monitoring, environmental monitoring and an operations electronic logbook. Exaquantum also enables supervisory enterprise applications to be able to share this data. www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

SIS /SAFETY SYSTEMS

Functions. It helps manage project documentation through simplified report generation and report viewing. The built-in exSILentia import/export functionality simplifies data sharing for multi-person projects, for independent review, or for input into other lifecycle tools (e.g. PHA). exSILentia provides fully customizable SIL selection options such as risk graph, hazard matrix and frequency-based targets. Also, a complete SIF SRS template ensures completeness in requirements definition. exSILentia contains SILver, the most comprehensive SIL verification program on the market, allowing extensive Safety Instrumented Function definition, and an IEC 61508-approved calculation engine based on the Markov Modeling technique. Finally, exSILentia includes a built-in reliability database from the best-selling Safety Equipment Reliability Handbook (SERH), enhancing the process of SIL verification by allowing users to select equipment items directly from the database without having to manually enter reliability data. www.info.hotims.com/38647-126

exida

Gulf Publishing Company

64 North Main Street Sellersville, PA 18960, USA Phone: 215-453-1720 Fax: 215-257-1657 Contact: Iwan van Beurden, Director of Engineering E-mail: vanbeurden@exida.com; info@exida.com www.exida.com

PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft

Company Bio: exida is an engineering consulting firm specializing in safety critical/high availability automation systems, control system security and alarm management. Core competencies in design, analysis, implementation, operation and maintenance of critical automation systems, along with expertise in the application of the IEC 61508 and IEC 61511/ISA 84 functional safety standards, has allowed exida to develop an extensive suite of software tools that assist in the implementation of the Safety Lifecycle. Products: The exSILentia® integrated toolset helps users follow the entire IEC 61511/ISA 84 safety lifecycle for the first time using a single tool, including Safety Integrity Level (SIL) selection, Safety Requirements Specification and SIL verification. It also supports compliance with regulations such as OSHA PSM 1919.119 (USA) and Seveso II (Europe). exSILentia allows the user to define a project consisting of one or more Safety Instrumented

Company Bio: Gulf Publishing Company’s Software Division publishes and distributes more than 40 desktop applications designed speciﬁcally for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: Pipeline Risk Controller, Version 2.0, is a program that might change how you operate or design your pipeline systems. Using risk management concepts, Pipeline Risk Controller allows you to divide your pipeline system(s) into sections, gather meaningful data on each section, and assess the risks of each section, providing signiﬁcantly more economic value than other software solutions. A perfect tool for pipeline risk management program for operators addressing regulatory and reporting requirements. Features: • Find your highest (and lowest) risk areas—then prioritize your maintenance • Measure the impact of changing conditions along the pipeline, such as population encroachments • Measure the impact of changing pressure, product or any activity (do “what-if studies”)

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 39

SOFTWARE AND INTEGRATION • Decide how to best allocate your capital resources • Monitor regulatory compliance (or build your own benchmark comparison standard) • Analyze pipelines before they are built • Compare pipeline route alternatives

Merrick Systems, Inc. 55 Waugh Drive, Suite 400 Houston, TX 77007, USA Phone: 713-579-3400 Fax: 713-579-3499 Contact: Faisal Kidwai, VP Sales E-mail: Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com; info@MerrickSystems.com www.MerrickSystems.com Company Bio: Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most robust software and hardware solutions addressing production operations, engineering and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry expertise, Merrick has pioneered innovative technologies in the oil field to help companies extend oil and gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase production and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or hosted Software as a Service (SaaS), include mobile computing for field and drilling operations, real-time surveillance and optimization; field operations management; field data capture; hydrocarbon accounting; regulatory reporting and rugged Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for drilling and asset management. Products: Merrick’s RFID-Based Asset Tracking System allows you to track and maintain any surface, subsea and downhole oilfield asset. The system is comprised of patented, ruggedized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, software and electronics, providing vital information about operational assets used in drilling and production operations. Configurability and a modular design allow the system to address specific operational requirements for managing any type of asset, including highvalue items like drill pipe, risers, collars and much more. Merrick’s RFID Diamond TagsTM are the first High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) tags in the market, proven to survive sustained extreme temperatures (400°F/200°C), pressures (2,070 bar/30,000 psi), vibration, corrosion and shock. The tags are used for tracking assets even under harsh operational conditions and have been nominated for several prestigious awards, including the SME Innovation 40

Award from Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) and the Innovation Award from the Energy Institute. Merrick’s web-based DynaCap software platform used to manage the asset data is highly configurable, allowing you to capture any information needed, including inspections, certifications, specifications, usage history, location and more. Utilizing industry-standard rugged mobile computers for field and rig operations, DynaCap works in both connected or disconnected modes to provide critical asset details even in remote locations with limited connectivity. Licensed or hosted by Merrick (Software as a Service), DynaCap offers significant savings, increased operational efficiency and improved safety while managing valuable oilfield assets. www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

market such as process analyzers, flowmeters, transmitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition products, measuring instruments, distributed control systems and more. Products: ProSafe-RS™—ProSafe-RS is an integrated safety instrumented system (SIS) designed for such applications as emergency shutdown (ESD), Fire and Gas (F&G), and Boiler management (BMS). It provides safe, reliable and available control without compromise and is certified by the German certification organization, TÜV to meet Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 as specified in IEC 61508. An integral feature is that it can be combined with Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP DCS system that allows all information to be combined into one screen integrating alarms and events, tag data onto graphics and trends. With ProSafe-RS, the safety-instrumented system uses the common DCS network for safety communications— with absolute integrity. www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

Yokogawa Electric Corp. World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Yokogawa Corp. of America 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

Yokogawa Europe B.V. Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

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CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING COLLABORATION AND KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE

ating methodology, Exapilot helps plants run more eﬃciently and safely. www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING

Yokogawa Electric Corp.

AVEVA Inc

World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

10350 Richmond Avenue Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 713-977-1225 www.aveva.com

Yokogawa Corp. of America BCCK Engineering, Inc.

Yokogawa Europe B.V. Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

2500 North Big Spring, Suite 230 Midland, TX 79705, USA Phone: 432-685-6095 E-mail: engineering@bcck.com www.bcck.com

www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

Engineering

E P I

12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

and more accurate. The program covers shelland-tube, plate-and-frame, air-cooled and double-pipe exchangers. CC-SAFETY NET allows rigorous analysis of any piping network and combines the rigorous two-phase relief device calculation, pressure drop calculation, physical property calculation and phase equilibrium to deliver fast, accurate answers. CC-FLASH is a subset of the CHEMCAD suite and allows rigorous calculation of physical properties and phase equilibria for pure components and mixtures. CC-BATCH makes batch distillation simulation and design easy with intuitive, operation step-based input; it optimizes batch operation, minimizes intermediate “slop” cuts and increases productivity.

EPI Engineering, Inc. Chemstations, Inc. 11490 Westheimer Road, Suite 900 Houston, TX 77077, USA Toll Free: 800-243-6223 Phone: 713-978-7700 Fax: 713-978-7727 E-mail: sales@chemstations.com www.chemstations.com

9801 Westheimer, Suite 1070 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 832-399-9450 Toll-free: 1-800-551-9739 Fax: 713-400-1937 Contact: Corey Hensley, Account Manager E-mail: c.hensley@epiengineering.com www.EPIEngineering.com

Company Bio: EPI Engineering is a specialized engineering firm focused directly on the design and optimization of any type of liquid or gas fluid flow pipeline network. Since 2001 we have conducted hundreds of projects that have saved our clients millions of dollars and we are confident we can identify significant savings for your refinery as well.

Products: CHEMCAD is Chemstations’ intuitive suite of chemical process simulation software that broadens an engineer’s capabilities and increases productivity. CHEMCAD supercharges an engineer’s eﬃciency when facing the toughest chemical process models or addressing day-to-day challenges. CC-STEADY STATE includes libraries of chemicals, thermodynamic methods and unit operations to allow steady-state simulation of continuous processes from lab scale to full scale. CC-DYNAMICS takes steady-state simulations to the next level of ﬁdelity to allow dynamic analysis. The possibilities are endless: operability check-out, PID loop tuning, operator training, even online process control and soft sensor functionality. CC-THERM makes use of multiple international standards for design and materials to make sizing or rating heat exchangers faster

Products: EPI Engineering specializes in the fluid flow design, analysis and optimization of any type of liquid or gas pipeline network by using the industry’s best practices and technology to increase capacity, reliability, utilization, profitability and understanding of your refinery’s fluid flow pipeline networks. Understanding exactly how your utility systems are operating will open the door to the identification of energy saving opportunities resulting in optimized operations of your systems. EPI Engineering has analyzed hundreds of pipeline networks over the past ten years and our clients have realized an average 10:1 ROI on our services. When EPI Engineering conducts a Pipeline Network Optimization (PNO) service all existing deficiencies from original/expansion designs and bottlenecks are identified and corrected, leading to increased safety compliance while increasing the time between refinery

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

E P I

Engineering

Maximize Flow Capacity of Utility & Process Systems

Boost the performance of your utility and process systems with EPI Engineering’s Pipeline Network Optimization (PNO) service. Since our optimization service has achieved an average 10:1 ROI over the past ten years, you can be confident that once you implement our service at your facility your systems will run at or above design flow and pressure specs while eliminating unneeded capital expenditures.

Design

Analyze

Optimize

Implement

EPI Engineering’s Philosophy

With our hydraulic optimization service we... Uncover day-one problems existing from the original design Avoid facility shutdowns due to system flow unreliability Identify and correct all bottlenecks within the system Exploit all energy and cost savings that are available Increase the overall safety and ROI of the facility Maximize the useful life of your systems

Flow simulations we specialize in include: Petroleum Refining Boiler Feed Water Process Water Instrument Air Condensate Nitrogen

Petrochemicals Cooling Water Natural Gas Fire Water Fuel Gas Steam

Request More Information To inquire about our high-value, optimization services visit us on the web at www.EPIEngineering.com or call us today at 1-800-551-9739. TM & © 2011 EPI Engineering, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING shutdowns due to system variability. Utility systems that EPI Engineering specializes in include, but are not limited to: cooling water systems, steam and condensate systems, fire water systems, fuel gas systems, compressed air systems and boiler feed-water systems. If you would like to optimize your refinery’s liquid and gas fluid flow systems, resulting in safer operations and reduced energy costs, contact us today at 1-800-551-9739 or visit us on the web at www.EPIEngineering.com. www.info.hotims.com/38647-133

EST$PRO is an estimating package to support estimators, cost engineers, plant engineers or process engineers who need to produce estimates quickly. This software contains numerous time-saving routines and calculations for conceptual costing of process plants. Features: • Curve-ﬁtting utility • Risk analysis routine • Capacity cost estimating—can be tailored with your own historical data • Computes the eﬀect of extended workweeks on productivity • Field craft manpower projections and more • New upgrade allows storing of user input data • Microsoft Vista Compliant

Gulf Publishing Company PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft Company Bio: Gulf Publishing Company’s Software Division publishes and distributes more than 40 desktop applications designed specifically for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: ProcessTools features a comprehensive suite of desktop applications specific to the design and evaluation needs of the petroleum and chemical industry. Containing 18 modules, this software package addresses many of the design requirements encountered in the industry but never available before in a desktop application. ProcessTools 1.9 is a desktop suite of distinct software applications designed to significantly enhance calculating time for designers and operators involved in the chemical and hydrocarbon processing industries. Purchase all 18 modules, or select individual modules (minimum of two) at a preferred price. Modules Include: • Treating Plant Design • TEG Dehydration Design • Mole Sieve Dehydration • Air-Cooled Exchangers • Shell and Tube Exchangers • Vent Stack and/or Storage Emissions • Instrumentation • Flare Design • Line Sizing • Vessel Design • Flash Calculations • Centrifugal Compressor • Reciprocating Compressor • Centrifugal Pumps • Reciprocating Pumps • Air, Water, Steam and Amine Properties • Equation Derivation • Plate Fin Exchanger 44

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

Company Bio: HTRI operates an international consortium founded in 1962 that conducts industrially relevant research and provides software tools for design, rating and simulation of process heat transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide range of technical publications and provides other services including contract research, software development, consulting and training. Products: HTRI Xchanger Suite®—Integrated graphical user environment for the design, rating and simulation of heat transfer equipment. Xace®—Designs, rates and simulates the performance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat recovery units and air preheaters. Xfh®—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters. Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and box heaters and the convection section of fired heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and performs combustion calculations. Xhpe®—Designs, rates, and simulates the performance of hairpin heat exchangers. Xist®—Designs, rates and simulates singleand two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, including kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, falling film evaporators and reflux condensers. Xjpe®—Designs, rates and simulates jacketed-pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. Xphe®—Designs, rates and simulates plateand-frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental program, Xphe calculates each plate channel individually using local physical properties and process conditions. Xspe®—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral plate heat exchangers. Xtlo®—Graphical standalone rigorous tube layout software; also integrated with Xist. Xvib®—Performs flow-induced vibration analysis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. It handles various geometries and uses rigorous structural analysis to calculate the tube natural frequencies for various modes. Xchanger Suite® Educational—Customized version of Xchanger Suite with the capability to design, rate and simulate shell-and-tube heat exchangers, air coolers, economizers and plateand-frame heat exchangers. It is available to educational institutions only. R-trend®—Calculates and trends fouling resistances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in single-phase service. It uses Microsoft Excel as a working environment with an optional link to Xist. www.info.hotims.com/38647-127

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING tive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances. www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

KRC Technologies Intertek 801 Travis Street, Suite 1500 Houston, TX 77002, USA Phone: 713-407-3500 Contact: Erik Holladay, Global Marketing Director E-mail: testingservices@intertek.com www.intertek.com Company Bio: Intertek supports the global petroleum refining, petrochemical, and oil and gas exploration and production industries with world-class testing, inspection, engineering and consulting services. With operations in over 100 nations, Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise to help clients improve quality and reduce risk and costs. Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Refined Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Refinery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

6637 Covoy Ct. San Diego, CA 9211, USA Phone: 888-467-2127 www.engineering-software.com

KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com

Yokogawa Electric Corp.

Other KBC Office Locations: London Phone: +44 (0)1932 242424 Singapore Phone: +65 6735 5488

World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Company Bio: KBC Advanced Technologies provides software and services to the global energy industries. KBC’s suite of software includes process simulation software and energy optimization products that allow clients to realize superior returns on their existing assets and reduce capital expenditures for a competitive advantage. Products: KBC offers a wide range of software that can model detailed process units or entire plants. KBC models are used in performance monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization, as well as for design and feasibility studies. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the defini-

Yokogawa Corp. of America 12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

Yokogawa Europe B.V. Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD. 5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 45

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING the early involvement of the Automation supplier on large projects to provide a single point of responsibility for the overall automation scope of work through adopting a main automation contractor (MAC) methodology. Yokogawa perceives that correction and alignment of project problems cost less at project planning and design stages than during construction and startup. MAC merges resources, experience and skill sets—minimizing costs, maximizing eﬃciency, ensuring consistencies and producing a far superior project ‘solution.’ Yokogawa’s execution capabilities and facilities include over 3,200 engineers on a global basis and technical expertise is distributed all over the world. When it comes to MAC project execution, Yokogawa is able to handle inquiries at each of its regional headquarters where senior and experienced engineers are available.

Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Reﬁnery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

PILOT PLANT SUPPORT

www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

LABORATORY TESTING R&D

Emerson Process Management 12301 Research Blvd., Bldg. 3 Austin, TX 78759, USA www.EmersonProcess.com

Company Bio: Emerson Process Management (www.emersonprocess.com), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production, processing and distribution in the oil and gas, refining, chemical, power, life sciences and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Products: Emerson brands include our digital plant architecture PlantWeb™, as well as, Smart Wireless and our field and plant networks. In addition, some of our brands serving the Oil and Gas industry also include: • Systems and Software: DeltaV™, METCO, AMS Suite, etc. • Measurement and Analytical: Micro Motion®, Rosemount®, Daniel™, Roxar, etc. • Valves and Final Control: Fisher®, Bettis™, El-O-Matic™, EIM, FloBoss, Hytork, Schafer™, TESCOM and TopWorx, etc. • Services: Asset Optimization Services, Process Automation Services and Wireless Services.

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

www.info.hotims.com/38647-137

PROCESS ENGINEERING AND SIMULATION

Bryan Research & Engineering PO Box 4747 Bryan, TX 77805, USA Phone: 979-776-5220 www.bre.com

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING C N EPC NSOFTWARE Chemstations, Inc.

EPCON International, Inc.

Gulf Publishing Company

11490 Westheimer Road, Suite 900 Houston, TX 77077, USA Toll Free: 800-243-6223 Phone: 713-978-7700 Fax: 713-978-7727 E-mail: sales@chemstations.com www.chemstations.com

9801 Westheimer Suite 1000 Houston, TX 77042, USA Phone: 281-398-9400 Toll-free: 1-800-367-3585 Fax: 281-398-9488 Contact: Jyoti Belwal, General Sales Manager E-mail: jb@epcon.com www.EPCON.com

PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft

Company Bio: Chemstions is a leader in chemical process simulation software and has been developing powerful solutions since 1988. Over 1,000 organizations worldwide use our technologies to improve productivity and profitability. We believe in the value that chemical engineers bring to our world and are dedicated to providing tools that help advance the field. Products: CHEMCAD is Chemstations’ intuitive suite of chemical process simulation software that broadens an engineer’s capabilities and increases productivity. CHEMCAD supercharges an engineer’s efficiency when facing the toughest chemical process models or addressing day-to-day challenges. CC-STEADY STATE includes libraries of chemicals, thermodynamic methods and unit operations to allow steady-state simulation of continuous processes from lab scale to full scale. CC-DYNAMICS takes steady-state simulations to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic analysis. The possibilities are endless: operability check-out, PID loop tuning, operator training, even online process control and soft sensor functionality. CC-THERM makes use of multiple international standards for design and materials to make sizing or rating heat exchangers faster and more accurate. The program covers shelland-tube, plate-and-frame, air-cooled and double-pipe exchangers. CC-SAFETY NET allows rigorous analysis of any piping network and combines the rigorous two-phase relief device calculation, pressure drop calculation, physical property calculation and phase equilibrium to deliver fast, accurate answers. CC-FLASH is a subset of the CHEMCAD suite and allows rigorous calculation of physical properties and phase equilibria for pure components and mixtures. CC-BATCH makes batch distillation simulation and design easy with intuitive, operation step-based input; it optimizes batch operation, minimizes intermediate “slop” cuts and increases productivity. www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

Company Bio: EPCON Software leads the way in innovative software applications for fluid flow network analysis, equipment sizing, cost estimation, thermodynamics, physical properties and custom software engineering. Over 25,000 engineers worldwide have used EPCON Software since 1982 and currently 90% of petroleum refining companies in the Fortune 500 rely on EPCON Software each and every day. Products: By complementing your process simulation software with the API Technical Data Book, which is often referred to as the “Refiners Bible,” you will be able to verify the accuracy of converged calculations and truly understand why your process simulation software provided the answers it did. Developed by the American Petroleum Institute over the past 45 years by 127 leading thermodynamic experts in the petroleum industry, the API Technical Data Book contains an enormous amount of data and methods for hydrocarbons and petro fractions, detailed information for 161 API physical property methods, and over 2,000 technical references and resources right at your fingertips via a software suite of 20 robust applications. Most petroleum engineers own a personal, printed copy of the data book that they use as a technical reference but did you know that the last, publicly available printed version of the data book was released in 1999, and there have been nine major updates and additions to the data since? If this is your situation or you would like to experience the data book for the first time, then visit us online at www.EPCON. com/APITech or call us at 1-800-367-3585 to learn more about how you can try the newest version of the API Technical Data Book free for 30 Days. www.info.hotims.com/38647-134

Company Bio: Gulf Publishing Company’s Software Division publishes and distributes more than 40 desktop applications designed specifically for the needs of the engineering community involved in the petroleum industry. Products: ProcessTools features a comprehensive suite of desktop applications specific to the design and evaluation needs of the petroleum and chemical industry. Containing 18 modules, this software package addresses many of the design requirements encountered in the industry but never available before in a desktop application. ProcessTools 1.9 is a desktop suite of distinct software applications designed to significantly enhance calculating time for designers and operators involved in the chemical and hydrocarbon processing industries. Purchase all 18 modules, or select individual modules (minimum of two) at a preferred price. Modules Include: • Treating Plant Design • TEG Dehydration Design • Mole Sieve Dehydration • Air-Cooled Exchangers • Shell and Tube Exchangers • Vent Stack and/or Storage Emissions • Instrumentation • Flare Design • Line Sizing • Vessel Design • Flash Calculations • Centrifugal Compressor • Reciprocating Compressor • Centrifugal Pumps • Reciprocating Pumps • Air, Water, Steam and Amine Properties • Equation Derivation • Plate Fin Exchanger PetroCalc is an upgraded Windows® version of a popular DOS program that solves fracturing and acidizing design problems. Use these programs to evaluate the effectiveness and size of the treatment, as well as the choice of different fluids and proppants. Calculate the effects of: • Flowback • Proppant concentration and scheduling • Stimulation project economics • Damage and damage removal • Acidizing

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 47

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING

services and expertise to help clients improve quality and reduce risk and costs. Products: Intertek provides a wide range of services and expertise for the global hydrocarbon industry, including: • Asset Integrity Management • Corrosion Control • Pilot Plant Project Support • Catalyst Evaluation and Analysis • Crude Oil Feedstock Assay and Testing • Reﬁned Petroleum Products Testing • Petrochemical Products Testing • Reservoir and Drilling Fluids Evaluation • E and P Core Analysis • Health, Safety and Environmental Expertise • Regulatory Compliance Support • Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Compliance • Dimensional Control Engineering • Forensic Investigations • Vendor Inspection and Auditing • Pipeline, Reﬁnery, Chemical Plant and Terminal Services • And more: http://www.intertek.com/ energy/ www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

KBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. 15021 Katy Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77094, USA Phone: 281-293-8200 Fax: 281-616-0900 E-mail: answers@kbcat.com www.kbcat.com

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization, as well as for design and feasibility studies. Petro-SIM® and Petro-SIM Express are KBC’s full-featured, graphical process simulators, featuring proven technology and industry-leading reactor models. Petro-SIM and Petro-SIM Express include general-purpose unit operations, an extensive component library, a range of thermodynamics packages and innovative methods to fully integrate the software with plant information systems, databases, Excel and third-party software. KBC’s industry-proven SIM Suite reactor models include detailed units for refinery and petrochemical modeling, including: FCC-SIM (Fluid Cat Cracking), HCR-SIM (Hydrocracker), REF-SIM (Reformer), HTR-SIM (Hydrotreaters), DC-SIM (Delayed Coker), ALK-SIM (Alkylation units) ISOM-SIM (for C6 isomerization) and VIS-SIM (Visbreakers). Reactor models for Petrochemicals include ISOM-SIM (for Xylene Isomerization and Aromatics Transalkylation). Also available from KBC are AMSIM for gas sweetening and Olefin-SIM for pyrolysis furnaces. KBC’s energy software focuses on reducing energy use and minimizing capital investment. Products include ProSteam® to monitor and optimize steam and power systems, SuperTarget®, the definitive tool for energy Pinch Analysis, WaterTarget to manage facility water use and Carbon Manager to track carbon emissions and perform fuel balances.

fixed and rotating equipment. It implements the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and performs crack assessments in accordance with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equipment types. An advanced fracture mechanics module allows users to also perform limited Level 3 assessments. FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utilizing an intuitive interface. Users can perform detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with unlimited levels of crack mesh refinement. LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete analysis and remnant life assessment of fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing API 579. The final output is a system risk curve displaying remaining life in hours versus probability of failure. It combines with heater performance monitoring and process modeling for extensive heater reliability management. LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection and fitness-for-service assessment results through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment capabilities include standard calculation methods B31G, B31G Modified and API 579. www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

PROCESS HAZARDS ANALYSIS

exida

2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 Boulder, CO 80301, USA Phone: 303-415-1475 Fax: 303-415-1847 E-mail: Info@QuestIntegrity.com www.QuestIntegrity.com

www.info.hotims.com/38647-126

www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

Quest Integrity Group, LLC

guides users through the Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) process, facilitating the identification and documentation of hazards, hazardous events and associated sequence of events. PHAX allows the user to easily document the relevant and important facts, while identifying safeguards and recommendations that are potential SIFs or alarms. The tool simplifies information flow from PHA to Safety Integrity Level (SIL) selection/verification and alarm rationalization through direct data exchange with exida’s exSILentia® and SILAlarm™ tools. This integration allows HAZOP result tracking throughout the safety and alarm management life cycles defined by the IEC 61511/ISA 84 and ISA-18.2 standards, providing traceability to changes that may impact HAZOP results.

64 North Main Street Sellersville, PA 18960, USA Phone: 215-453-1720 Fax: 215-257-1657 Contact: Iwan van Beurden, Director of Engineering E-mail: vanbeurden@exida.com; info@exida.com www.exida.com

Products: Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-forService and fracture mechanics analyses on

Products: PHAX is a software module within the exSILentia® suite of safety life-cycle tools that

Products: WinSMITH™ Visual for Windows® is a scientific plotting software that acts as a plotting engine for other Fulton Findings software. WinSMITH™ Visual also makes Crow/AMSAA (formally called Duane/AMSAA). Features: • General and advanced scientific plotting • Curve fitting (new data set added with 101 points) • Crow/ANSAA reliability growth made easy • Calculator functions for probabilitybinomial chi-squared, gamma, Poisson • Cumulative distribution, hazard, probability density and reliability plotting from WinSMITH™ Weibull file • Aggregate cumulative hazard plotting from WinSMITH™ Weibull file • Warranty data input Note: All Fulton Findings software is “stand alone” and provides internal plotting capability as appropriate. WinSMITH™ Weibull and WeibullSMITH™ generate their own CDF plots but rely on WinSMITH™ Visual for special-purpose plots. WinSMITHTM Weibull for Windows® is the only software that implements all the

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

I 49

CONSULTING AND ENGINEERING Weibull Analysis techniques in The New Weibull Handbook, 5th Ed., by Dr. Robert Abernethy, the standard source on Weibull analysis. Features: • Likelihood ratio confidence • Simplified design (set) comparison • Kaplan-Meier simulation and solution • Critical correlation coefficient • Sudden-death WeiBayes Note: All Fulton Findings software is “stand alone” and provides internal plotting capability as appropriate. WinSMITH™ Weibull and WeibullSMITHTM generate their own CDF plots but rely on WinSMITHTM Visual for special-purpose plots.

• An oil and gas economic evaluation • An international production—sharing agreement cash-ﬂow model

WELL LOG DATA ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT

Yokogawa Electric Corp. World Headquarters 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan www.yokogawa.com

Yokogawa Corp. of America Gulf Publishing Company PO Box 2608 Houston, Texas 77252-2608, USA Phone: 713-529-4301 E-mail: software@gulfpub.com www.gulfpub.com/soft

Yokogawa Europe B.V. Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, The Netherlands www.yokogawa.com/eu

Yokogawa Engineering Asia PTE. LTD.

Products: PetroCalc is an upgraded Windows® version of a popular DOS program that solves fracturing and acidizing design problems. Use these programs to evaluate the effectiveness and size of the treatment, as well as the choice of different fluids and proppants. Calculate the effects of: • Flowback • Proppant concentration and scheduling • Stimulation project economics • Damage and damage removal • Acidizing PePac 1 consists of 20 reservoir engineering programs written in Basic and three economic evaluation spreadsheets. The 20 reservoir engineering programs are linked through one master menu and five main menus. However, each program is self-contained and can be used independently. The programs in this package are selected for their usefulness in day-to-day operations that fall into six main categories: • PVT properties for oil, water and gas • Reservoir engineering • Natural gas engineering • Economic evaluation • Transient well test analysis • Waterflood design calculations The three economic programs are: • A utility spreadsheet to create cash-flow summaries

Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD.

www.info.hotims.com/38647-128

12530 West Airport Blvd. Sugar Land, TX 77478, USA www.yokogawa.com/us

nection to any SCADA Host. This makes it an ideal drop-in replacement for legacy RTUs. The STARDOM FCN-RTU comes with an API21.1 compliant flow computer and gas well controller in one device. A single controller is able to configure up to two well facilities or more together with choke-valve control, separator control, plunger-lift control, tank control, other equipment control and shutdown logic. Yokogawa total solutions include not only the well site, but also the injection, pipeline, compressor station and the process plant facility. Yokogawa offers a wide variety of sensors and controllers that are used to monitor and operate the digital oil and gas field, as well as engineering and configuration services and support, providing a turnkey automation solution.

5 Bedok South Road Singapore 469270, Singapore www.yokogawa.com/sg

DISPLAY ADVERTISERS Company

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Website

Chemstation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 (130) www.info.hotims.com/38647-130

Epcon Software (API) . . . . . . . . . . 31 (135) www.info.hotims.com/38647-135

Epcon Software (Fluid Flow) . . . . 21 (134) www.info.hotims.com/38647-134

22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 Fax: 86-21-5211-0299

EPI Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 (133)

Heat Transfer Research, Inc. . . . . . . 2 (127)

Products: WELL PRODUCERTM is a packaged solution to automate and manage gas wells simpler and easier than current practice. WELL PRODUCER consists of a low-power STARDOM FCN-RTU, with all the necessary control and flow computer functions for gas wells pre-configured. All parameter settings can be configured by a built-in WEB server, and an open MODBUS communication allows con-

SOFTWARE RESOURCE AND SOLUTIONS GUIDE 2011

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Exida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 (126) www.info.hotims.com/38647-126 www.info.hotims.com/38647-127

Intertek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 (125) www.info.hotims.com/38647-125

KBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 (136) www.info.hotims.com/38647-136

Merrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 (131) www.info.hotims.com/38647-131

Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 (132) www.info.hotims.com/38647-132

Spiral Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 (129) www.info.hotims.com/38647-129

Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 (128) www.info.hotims.com/38647-128 This Advertisers’ Index and procedure for securing additional information is provided as a service to Hydrocarbon Processing advertisers and a convenience to our readers. Gulf Publishing Company is not responsible for omissions or errors.

Introducing Spiral Suite dƌƵůǇ /ŶƚĞŐƌĂƚĞĚ ^ƵƉƉůǇ ŚĂŝŶ dŽŽůƐ ĨƌŽŵ ^ƉŝƌĂů ^ŽŌǁĂƌĞ Spiral Suite is the only industry ƉůĂŶŶŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ƐĐŚĞĚƵůŝŶŐ ƐŽůƵƟŽŶ designed from the ground up as an ŝŶƚĞŐƌĂƚĞĚ ƐŽůƵƟŽŶ͘ It brings together feedstock data management, planning, scheduling and envelope ŽƉƟŵŝǌĂƟŽŶ ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ŝŶ Ă ƐŝŶŐůĞ͕ ĨƵůůǇͲŝŶƚĞŐƌĂƚĞĚ ƚŽŽůƐĞƚ͘ dŚĞ ƌĞƐƵůƚ ŝƐ Ă ƐŽůƵƟŽŶ ƚŚĂƚ ĞŶĐŽƵƌĂŐĞƐ ĐŽůůĂďŽƌĂƟǀĞ ǁŽƌŬŇŽǁƐ͕ ďĞƩĞƌ ĞǆƉůŽƌĞƐ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ͕ ƌĞĚƵĐĞƐ ŽƉĞƌĂƟŽŶĂů risk and shrinks the gap between ƉůĂŶ ĂŶĚ ĂĐƚƵĂů ƌĞƐƵůƚƐ͘ The Spiral Suite interface is highly ŝŶƚƵŝƟǀĞ ĨŽƌ ďĞŐŝŶŶĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ĞǆƉĞƌƚƐ alike, based on a drag and drop ŐƌĂƉŚŝĐĂů ŇŽǁƐŚĞĞƚ ĂŶĚ ŝŶƚĞŐƌĂƚĞĚ ƚĂďƵůĂƌ ǀŝĞǁƐ͘ ůů ĂĐƟǀŝƟĞƐ ĂƌĞ ƐƵƉƉŽƌƚĞĚ ǁŝƚŚŝŶ Ă ƐŝŶŐůĞ ĂƉƉůŝĐĂƟŽŶ͕ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ƐŝŶŐůĞ user interface, a single source of data, all available through parallel ĚĞƐŬƚŽƉ ĂŶĚ ǁĞď ŝŶƚĞƌĨĂĐĞƐ͘ Built for today’s business and IT environment, Spiral Suite is ĚĂƚĂďĂƐĞͲďĂƐĞĚ͕ ĨƵůůǇ ƵƟůŝǌĞƐ ŵŽĚĞƌŶ ŵƵůƟͲĐŽƌĞ ƉƌŽĐĞƐƐŽƌƐ and inherently supports Cloud ĐŽŵƉƵƟŶŐ ŝŵƉůĞŵĞŶƚĂƟŽŶƐ͘ If you would like to see how you ĐĂŶ ƌĞǀŽůƵƟŽŶŝǌĞ ǇŽƵƌ ƐƵƉƉůǇ ĐŚĂŝŶ management with Spiral Suite, please email our consultants at ƐĂůĞƐΛƐƉŝƌĂůƐŽŌ͘ĐŽŵ͘ Select 129 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Select 128 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS